Nigeria and Ivory Coast battle for Afcon glory
Nigeria and Ivory Coast will battle for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations glory when they meet in the final, set for the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan on the evening of Sunday 11 February.
Kick-off is at 10pm CAT.
CURRENT FORM
Nigeria overcame a tough challenge from South Africa to reach the final for the first time since 2013. The Super Eagles were taken to the full 120 minutes by Bafana Bafana, as the teams drew 1-1 (with William Troost-Ekong scoring their goal from the spot) after extra time on Wednesday evening, but the West Africans prevailed 4-2 on penalties.
Jose Peseiro’s side are unbeaten in the tournament, having come strongly through group A (albeit in second place) against Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissua, before ousting Cameroon, Angola and SA in the knockout rounds.
Ivory Coast’s run at this Afcon has been the stuff of a Hollywood script, with the Elephants looking dead and buried when they concluded their group stage campaign – to the extent that they axed head coach Jean-Louis Gasset – only to squeeze through.
They then secured dramatic triumphs over defending champions Senegal and Mali, before putting in their best performance of the tournament with a 1-0 semifinal win over Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday night, courtesy of Sebastien Haller’s awkward but effective volley.
TEAM NEWS
Nigeria have had fitness concerns over William Troost-Ekong through most of the tournament and will hope he is fit for the final. Star striker Victor Osimhen (who was under an injury cloud earlier in the week) also ran himself into the ground in the semifinal and is another who will be monitored closely.
Ivory Coast will have Oumar Diakite and Odilon Kossounou available after they served one-match
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