World Cup 2014 betting: Ivory Coast odds to win Group C

Ivory Coast has a solid team with a good offense and they are not in a very strong group this summer after being in the Group of Death four years ago.

However, they have come up short on the world stage. This summer, odds makers have them tied for the second best odds to win their group and they have the best World Cup betting odds of any team from Africa.

Ivory Coast Odds to win World Cup 2014: +12500
Ivory Coast Odds to win Group C: +375

Ivory Coast has been drawn into Group C with Colombia, Japan, and Greece. They were solid in the qualifying process and they have been up and down in World Cup tune-ups with draws against Ghana and Belgium and losses against Ghana and Mexico.

Ivory Coast has the nickname of the Elephants and while this is their "golden generation" can they come through in a big international tournament?

World Cup Prediction for Ivory Coast

Obviously, every group match is a big one, but the last one may be the key one. In the first one they play a very technical Japan squad, but the Elephants will beat them with their solid offensive minded midfield.

They will not win their second match facing Colombia, who are favored to win the group, and their last match against Greece will see them fail to get three points with the great defense the Greeks have. Because of that, we see Ivory Coast coming up short again and not advancing out of the group stage.

How Ivory Coast got to the World Cup

Ivory Coast went unbeaten in the African qualification process and then in a playoff they beat Senegal 4-2 on aggregate. While the Elephants were unbeaten in qualifying they were not in a very tough group.

Still, they had four clean sheets in their 10 matches and only conceded more than one goal once. Overall, their qualifying record was six wins and four draws.

World Cup Qualifying Results

10/10/09 Malawi 1 - 1 Ivory Coast

14/11/09 Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Guinea

02/06/12 Ivory Coast 2 - 0 Tanzania

09/06/12 Morocco 2 - 2 Ivory Coast

23/03/13 Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Gambia

08/06/13 Gambia 0 - 3 Ivory Coast

16/06/13 Tanzania 2 - 4 Ivory Coast

07/09/13 Ivory Coast 1 - 1 Morocco

12/10/13 Ivory Coast 3 - 1 Senegal

16/11/13 Senegal 1 - 1 Ivory Coast

World Cup Group Play Schedule

14/06/14 Ivory Coast vs. Japan - Arena Pernambuco

19/06/14 Colombia vs. Ivory Coast - Nacional

24/06/14 Greece vs. Ivory Coast - Estadio Castelão

Team Key Players

Yaya Toure MF Manchester City - He is one of the premier midfielders in the world and one of the better offensive threats the Elephants have.

Didier Drogba FW Galatasaray - Can he regain his status as one of the best attackers in the world? He was a few years back and needs to hark back to his prime for his squad to advance out of the group stage.

Kolo Toure MF Liverpool - Another offensive-minded midfielder that will pressure any opposing defense.