Ivory Coast are hopeful that captain Didier Drogba will play a part at the World Cup after his recovery from a broken arm was described as very encouraging.

Drogba, 32, suffered the injury in his side’s 2-0 win against Japan last weekend.

After undergoing successful surgery, the striker has now linked up again with his team-mates.

A timeframe for the striker’s return remains sketchy, however, with the Elephants set to open their World Cup campaign against Portugal on 15 June.

Drogba is the current African Player of the Year and scored 37 goals in all competitions for Chelsea last season as the London club won the Premier League and FA Cup Double.

He is seen as critical to Ivory Coast’s hopes of progressing out of group G, which also includes Brazil and North Korea along with Portugal, to reach the knockout stages.

“His recovery has been very encouraging,” said Ivory Coast Federation spokesman Roger Kouassi. “It is suggested that, at this point, all signs are good and there are many hopes.”

The Ivory Coast Federation (FIF) had said on Saturday, when the player underwent surgery, that they and the surgeons who performed the procedure “are confident regarding his speedy recovery”.

Speaking prior to Drogba’s surgery at the Lindenhof hospital in Berne, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson told Tide sports source he believed there was still a chance that Drogba could feature in South Africa.

After their opening match against Portugal, Eriksson’s side face Brazil on 20 June and North Korea on 25 June in a group many observers consider the tournament’s most competitive.

Drogba suffered the injury in Sion, Switzerland, in a collision with Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka – three minutes after the Chelsea forward had opened the scoring with a 13th-minute deflected free-kick.

The Elephants, for whom Drogba has scored 44 goals in 69 appearances, went on to clinch victory with Manchester City defender Kolo Toure netting their second goal.