Emerse Faé: Why the African champion’s journey matters at the CAF Strategy Conference
Emerse Faé will bring one of the most compelling African coaching stories of recent years to the CAF Strategy Conference in Cabo Verde, where the continent’s football leaders will examine how African national teams can build towards greater success at the FIFA World Cup 2030.
The former Cote d'Ivoire coach is among the 10 coaches who led African teams at the FIFA World Cup 2026 who are expected to contribute their experiences to the Conference in Sal, which runs from 7 to 9 October.
Faé's importance to the discussions goes beyond the results he achieved with the Elephants.
His journey from youth development coaching to becoming an African champion and then leading Cote d'Ivoire into the World Cup knockout stage for the first time provides an example of how investment in coaching knowledge, opportunities and local expertise can produce results at the highest level.
It also fits one of the central themes of the CAF Strategy Conference: connecting the achievements of African teams in 2026 with the development structures required to make those performances sustainable on the road to 2030.
From player to coach
Born in Nantes, France, Faé represented Cote d'Ivoire during his playing career after spells with Nantes, Reading and OGC Nice.
CAF records show that he made 44 appearances for the Elephants between 2005 and 2012 before his playing career ended prematurely because of recurring health problems.
His transition into coaching began within Nice's youth system, where he worked his way through different age groups before becoming an Under-19 coach.
He later worked with Clermont Foot's reserve side before joining the Cote d'Ivoire national-team set-up in 2022 as assistant to Jean-Louis Gasset.
That pathway – learning in youth football before stepping into elite international management – is particularly relevant to CAF's wider focus on coach education and technical development.
The remarkable AFCON turnaround
Faé's defining breakthrough came at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d'Ivoire 2023.
He was appointed interim coach midway through the competition after the hosts had lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea and only scraped into the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams.
What followed became one of the tournament's great comeback stories.
Cote d'Ivoire eliminated defending champions Senegal on penalties, defeated Mali after extra time, beat DR Congo in the semi-finals and came from behind to defeat Nigeria 2-1 in the final.
Faé had taken over a team apparently heading out of its own tournament and turned it into African champions.
He was subsequently appointed permanently and was named CAF Men's Coach of the Year for 2024, recognition of the scale of that achievement.
Breaking new ground at the World Cup
Faé then took Cote d'Ivoire to the FIFA World Cup 2026, their first appearance at the tournament since 2014.
The Elephants beat Ecuador 1-0 in their opening match, lost 2-1 to Germany and defeated Curaçao 2-0 to finish second in their group.
That victory over Curaçao sent Cote d'Ivoire into the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time in their history, something previous generations had been unable to achieve in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Their campaign ended with a 2-1 Round of 32 defeat by Norway, but the tournament had already produced another landmark in Faé's coaching career.
A case study for African coaching
That is why Faé's presence in Cabo Verde carries particular significance.
The Conference is designed partly to examine what Africa's World Cup coaches learned in 2026 and how those lessons can shape preparation for 2030.
CAF's strategy also places coach education, technical development and the creation of stronger football structures among the foundations for future progress.
Faé's rise offers a practical example: a former African international given time to learn the profession, develop young players and eventually take responsibility at senior international level.
His record also shows what can happen when an African coach is trusted in difficult circumstances.
From inheriting a team on the brink of AFCON elimination to becoming an African champion and then guiding the Elephants into previously uncharted World Cup territory, Faé arrives at the Strategy Conference with experience that can richly contribute to the event.
