The Elephants hit a 69-49 win over fellow West African nation Mali in front of an excited home crowd in Abidjan to seal its place in Asia later this year.
The win put Mali in third place in Group F behind already qualified Nigeria and Senegal and that was good enough to progress.
Despite winning 77-69 over Rwanda, Central African Republic’s quest for a first World Cup appearance was all but sealed after losing to Nigeria in the second of three games played in Abidjan.
Heading to the game, Ivory Coast needed to beat Mali by at least 13 points or win with a 12 point margin and score 136 points. The Elephants did that by winning with a 20 point differential.
Ivory Coast joins Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia and Angola as Africa’s representatives in China in September for the world competition.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
