For Ivory Coast in particular, the time is now.

At 36, this is almost certainly the final World Cup for Drogba, the skillful and muscular striker who had his best years at Chelsea, winning the Champions League for the Blues a few years ago over Bayern Munich. But at the World Cup, Drogba and the Elephants (the team’s nickname) have stumbled badly in the first round — finishing third in their group in the last two tournaments.

This time, Ivory Coast is in Group C with Japan, Greece and Colombia.

“I think it’s quite a difficult and well-balanced group, which means that there’s everything to play for,” said Sabri Lamouchi, the team’s 42-year-old French coach. He added, “My job is to make sure this Elephants team is the most competitive possible, and that they make the Ivorian people proud.”

Image At 36, Didier Drogba, left, will likely be playing in his final World Cup. Credit... Abdeljalil Bounhar/Associated Press

If Drogba is to score goals he will depend on service coming out of the midfield, led by Manchester City’s Yaya Touré, 30, who has had a strong finish to the Premier League season in England even as City has faded from the title race. Touré has been named African Footballer of the Year for the past three seasons. Striker Gervinho has overcome the doubts that sprang up after a difficult time at Arsenal by so far scoring seven goals this season for Roma of Italy’s Serie A.

“I’m expecting the same thing from Didier and the rest of the players — to use all of his talent and experience and all of his qualities as a football player and a man to help the Ivory Coast get past the first round,” Lamouchi told The Associated Press.