The surveillance and elimination of fungal pathogens rely heavily on the sentinel behaviour of phagocytic cells of the innate immune system, especially macrophages and neutrophils. The efficiency by which these cells recognize, uptake and kill fungal pathogens depends on the size, shape and composition of the fungal cells and the success or failure of various fungal mechanisms of immune evasion. In this Review, we describe how fungi, particularly Candida albicans, interact with phagocytic cells and discuss the many factors that contribute to fungal immune evasion and prevent host elimination of these pathogenic microorganisms.