Tragedy struck though as Armando drowned to death celebrating at the beach in Grand-Bassam; in memory of his brother and hero, Zokora has Armand tattooed on his right forearm.

[6][8][9] Shortly after joining the Premier League club, it was announced on 24 October 2006 that Zokora had contracted malaria after falling ill on the morning of a UEFA Cup group match against Beşiktaş in Istanbul.

[11] Zokora won the 2007–08 League Cup with Tottenham, their first major title in nine years, as a header from Jonathan Woodgate's face secured a 2–1 extra time victory over London rivals Chelsea.

[17] During the 2009 summer transfer window, Zokora signed for Spanish La Liga side Sevilla for an undisclosed fee, including a reported €30 million release clause.

[22] In his first season in Andalusia, Zokora managed to help take Sevilla back into the UEFA Champions League after finishing La Liga in fourth position.

In addition to the Liga success, he helped his side claim their fifth Copa del Rey title by defeating 2010 UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid 2–0 in the final at Camp Nou.

[23][24] On 29 January 2011, Zokora came on as a 77th-minute substitute for Federico Fazio and provided his only assist of the season to Álvaro Negredo, as Sevilla battled back from 2–0 down to claim a 3–3 draw with Deportivo de La Coruña.

Zokora was one of the biggest transfers in Indonesian football during the 2017 season, after Michael Essien, Carlton Cole, Peter Odemwingie, Shane Smeltz and Mohamed Sissoko all joined the competition.

[39] He scored his only goal at the international level in a 4–0 defeat of Botswana on 22 June 2008 that moved the Ivory Coast to the top of their group in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

[48] Zokora did in fact retire from international football on 28 February 2012,[49] following the end of the tournament, but Les Elephants went down in an 8–7 penalty shoot-out loss to Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

[50] Despite earlier announcing his retirement, on 1 June 2014 Zokora was included by manager Sabri Lamouchi in the Ivory Coast's 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.