France will play the African champions Ivory Coast in Lens in an international friendly in mid-November, the French Football Federation announced on Friday.

The game is scheduled for November 15, four days after Didier Deschamps's beaten Euro 2016 finalists take on Sweden in a 2018 World Cup qualifier at the Stade de France.

It has been over 10 years since the two teams last played in a 3-0 win for France in Montpellier in August 2005.

The Elephants are preparing to defend the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon early in the new year.

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