Drobga, 33, has taken part in four Nations Cups and seen his side lose twice on penalties in the final, once in the semi-finals and once in the quarters, despite invariably being billed as favourites and playing some of the best football.
This year's tournament looked to be the last chance for the likes of Drogba, Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure who under normal circumstances would have to wait two years for another crack at the title.
"If they still have the motivation they can still play an important role for the team," said coach Francois Zahoui, whose own future is the subject of speculation, after they lost on penalties to Zambia in Sunday's final after a goalless draw.
"But these are decisions not to be made now."
Zahoui, determined to end Ivory Coast's habit of playing attractive football but failing to win the trophy, had banked on a more pragmatic approach and his team got through their six games without conceding a goal.
This year's 16 finalists will be given byes to the final qualifying round and will be seeded, meaning they only have to play two matches to get to South Africa.
These 16 include Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, who only qualified for 2012 as co-hosts and would not normally be counted among the continent's top sides.
Africa's World Cup qualifying format has also changed with 10 groups of four in the main phase of the tournament, which starts in June, followed by play-off ties between the winners to determine the continent's five representatives in Brazil.
