The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match played on 11 February 2024 between

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and Nigeria. It determined the winner of the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2023 or CAN 2023) is scheduled to be the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's association football, football championship of Africa organized by the ...

, the 34th edition of the biennial African tournament organized by the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

(CAF). The match was played at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Nigeria qualified for the final for the eighth time in their history, while Ivory Coast reached the final for the fifth time. Ivory Coast won the match in regulation time with a score of . With this victory, the team won its third

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

title, while Nigeria took second place. Nigeria took the lead in the 38th minute with a goal from

William Troost-Ekong William Paul Troost-Ekong (born 1 September 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Salernitana, on loan from EFL Championship side Watford, and captains the Nigeria national team. Born in the Netherla ...

, but Ivory Coast turned things around with goals from

Franck Kessié Franck Yannick Kessié (born 19 December 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Born in Ouragahio, Kessié began his career in Stella Club ...

in the 62nd minute and Sébastien Haller in the 81st minute.

Simon Adingra Simon Adingra (born 1 January 2002) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Belgian Pro League club Union SG, on loan from club Brighton & Hove Albion, and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career A former player of ...

was awarded the Man of the Match award for his all round performance, having assisted both goals.

Venue

The final was played at Alassane Ouattara Stadium, also known as Stade Olympique d'Ebimpe, a multi-purpose stadium in northern Abidjan, the largest city in the Ivory Coast. It opened in October 2020 and is named for Ivorian president

Alassane Ouattara Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)Ivory Coast national football team. It also hosts rugby and athletic events and is part of a complex that was jointly funded by the Ivorian and Chinese governments. During the Africa Cup of Nations, Alassane Ouattara Stadium hosted six group stage matches and one match in each of the knockout rounds. The stadium was announced as the host of the final in November 2022 upon the signing of a host agreement between CAF and the Ivorian government; Cameroon was the original host of the 2023 edition of the tournament but was awarded the 2021 edition following delays to their plan to host the 2019 edition.

Route to the final

Nigeria

Nigeria, nicknamed the Super Eagles, have won the Africa Cup of Nations three times and finished four times as runners-up. The team entered the 2023 tournament as the winners of Group A during the qualification round. They had five wins and one loss during qualification and amassed a goal differential of 18. Nigeria was drawn into Group A for the tournament proper along with hosts

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

, and Guinea-Bissau. They entered as favorites to advance under the leadership of striker

Victor Osimhen Victor James Osimhen (born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Napoli and the Nigeria national team. Born in Nigeria, Osimhen began his senior career in Germany at VfL Wolfsburg in 2017. Fol ...

, who was voted 2023 African Footballer of the Year and scored ten goals during qualification. In their opening match, Nigeria drew 1–1 with Equatorial Guinea, who were 46 places below them in the

world rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

. Equatorial Guinea's sole shot on target was scored by

Iban Salvador Iván Salvador Edú (born 11 December 1995), known in Spain as Iban Salvador and in Africa as Iban Edú, is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Segunda División club CF Fuenlabrada. Born in Spain, he represents the Equatorial ...

in the 36th minute and followed by Osimhen's equalizer, but the team was unable to convert several chances to score. Nigeria won 1–0 against Ivory Coast in their next match after earning a penalty kick that was converted by

in the second half. The match was described as "a strong defensive performance" for the Super Eagles, who had five defenders in their formation; it was the team's first away win against Ivory Coast. Nigeria finished second in Group A with 7 points behind Equatorial Guinea, the unexpected group leader. The team won 1–0 against Guinea-Bissau in the final match of the group stage, benefitting from an own goal in the first half. The Super Eagles won 2–0 in their round of 16 match against rivals Cameroon through a dominant midfield performance.

Ademola Lookman Ademola Lookman Olajade Alade Aylola Lookman (born 20 October 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Atalanta and the Nigeria national team. Lookman made his senior debut in 2015, playing as a forward for Charlt ...

scored both goals for Nigeria with Osimhen providing an assist on the first in the 36th minute and Alex Iwobi delivering a ball into the box in the 90th minute. The team advanced to the quarterfinals to play Angola in their first meeting since they eliminated Nigeria in qualifiers for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. Lookman scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory for Nigeria, who maintained their strong defensive posture to earn their 15th semifinal appearance. Nigeria had few chances to score in their semifinal against South Africa, which was decided entirely from penalty kicks. The Super Eagles fended off several chances for South Africa and opened the scoring in the 67th minute through a foul on Osimhen in penalty area; Troost-Ekong converted the ensuing penalty kick. Osimhen scored an apparent second goal on a counter-attack near the end of the match; it was instead rescinded by video review and a penalty was awarded to South Africa for a foul in the build-up. Teboho Mokoena scored from his penalty to tie the match at 1–1 in the 90th minute; the scoreline was unchanged through extra time, with South Africa playing through a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

for defender

Grant Kekana Grant Kekana (born 31 October 1992) is a South African soccer player who plays as a defender for Mamelodi Sundowns in the Premier Soccer League. Honours South Africa * Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2023 Events Predicte ...

. Nigeria won 4–2 in the penalty shootout with two saves by Stanley Nwabali. Manager José Peseiro utilized a 3–4–3

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

with an emphasis on defense and counter-attacking; during the run to the final, Nigeria only conceded two goals.

Ivory Coast

Hosts

automatically qualified for the 2023 tournament but were entered into the qualification round's group stage to play in competitive matches. They were drawn into

Group H Group H may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2014 FIFA Worl ...

and finished level on points with Zambia, who won a head-to-head goal difference tiebreaker to top the group. The team, nicknamed The Elephants (french: Les Éléphant), had previously won the African Cup of Nations in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. For the tournament, Ivory Coast was placed in Group A as hosts and drawn alongside Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. The hosts entered the tournament ranked seventh among teams from Africa and with high expectations after losing their "golden generation" that had won in 2015. In the opening match of the tournament, Ivory Coast defeated Guinea-Bissau 2–0 with goals from

Seko Fofana Seko Mohamed Fofana (born 7 May 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lens. Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Manchester City Born in Paris, France, Fofana began ...

in the fourth minute and

Jean-Philippe Krasso Jean-Philippe Nil Step Krasso (born 17 July 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serbian SuperLiga club Red Star Belgrade. Born in Germany, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career Krass ...

after half-time. The team lost 1–0 to Nigeria and 4–0 to Equatorial Guinea, the worst home defeat in the country's history, after conceding three goals in a 13-minute stretch. The upset loss to Equatorial Guinea included 22 shots for Ivory Coast, who had two goals voided by the video assistant referee due to offsides. The hosts finished third in Group A with three points but advanced to the knockout stage as the fourth-best team to finish in third place after Morocco defeated Zambia, who finished with two points. Ivory Coast manager

Jean-Louis Gasset Jean-Louis Gasset (born 9 December 1953) is a French former midfielder and current manager of Ivory Coast national football team, Ivory Coast. Football career Born in Montpellier, Gasset played his whole career with hometown club Montpellier HSC ...

was fired for the team's "insufficient results" in the group stage and replaced by assistant

Emerse Faé Emerse Faé (born 24 January 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in France, he represented the Ivory Coast at international level. Club career Youth career Born in Nantes, Faé started his youth career with ...

in his first stint as a senior manager. After a failed attempt by the Ivorian federation to temporarily hire former manager

Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) is a French professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Saudi Arabia national team. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom ...

for the remainder of the tournament, Faé had five days to prepare the team for a knockout match against defending champions Senegal. Ivory Coast conceded a goal in the fourth minute to Senegal's Habib Diallo and were unsuccessful in their attempts to score. They were awarded a penalty kick by the video assistant referee that was converted by

in the 86th minute to tie the match at 1–1. After a scoreless extra time, the match was decided in a penalty shootout;

Moussa Niakhaté Moussa Niakhaté (born 8 March 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Lyon. Born in France, he plays for the Senegal national team. Career In July 2018, Niakhaté joined 1. FSV Mainz 05 from FC Metz for ...

missed his kick for Senegal to give Ivory Coast an advantage, which they rode to a 5–4 victory in the shootout. The hosts advanced to a quarterfinal match against Mali and were held to a scoreless draw in the first half, but avoided conceding after a penalty kick was saved by

Yahia Fofana Yahia Fofana (born 21 August 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Angers. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Le Havre A product of Le Havre's academy, Fofana signed hi ...

. Ivory Coast then lost defender

Odilon Kossounou Kouakou Odilon Dorgeless Kossounou (; born 4 January 2001) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career Kossounou started his c ...

, whose foul had earned Mali the penalty kick, after he was ejected after being shown a second yellow card in the 43rd minute. They played the remainder of the match with 10 players but equalized in the 90th minute through a rebound converted by

and took the lead in the last minute of extra time with Oumar Diakité, who was sent off with a second yellow card for his celebration. The team's comeback results in the early knockout stages earned them the nickname "Zombie Elephants". In the semifinal against

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, Ivory Coast controlled the match and earned a 1–0 victory. The winning goal was scored from an acrobatic shot in the 65th minute by Sébastien Haller, who had returned to the team after treating his testicular cancer and saw limited playing time due to ankle injury. Faé became the second manager to reach a continental final after taking over mid-tournament, following Nasser Al-Johar with Saudi Arabia at the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 O ...

. Ivory Coast became the 15th host nation to play in the AFCON final.

Match

Summary

Ivory Coast had the better control of the first half, but there were few chances for either side in the opening 30 minutes of the match. Among the early chances were a shot by Adingra that was blocked by Nigeria goalkeeper Nwabali; Nigeria left-back Zaidu Sanusi then had a similar chance but his shot was blocked by Odilon Kossounou, who had returned from his suspension. The latter chance resulted in a corner, from which

jumped higher than defender Serge Aurier to head Nigeria into the lead in the 38th minute. Ivory Coast were the more threatening after half-time; a cross from Adingra was saved by Nwabali, and Calvin Bassey blocked the rebound from Max Gradel. Another corner led to the Ivory Coast's equalizer in the 62nd minute as

was left unmarked at the far post to head into the net. After 74 minutes Haller nearly scored an overhead kick, but his shot went just wide. However, seven minutes later, Haller scored after he flicked Adingra's left-wing cross into the net to put Ivory Coast into the lead, which they maintained for the remainder of the match to win a third AFCON title. Ivory Coast winger Adingra's two assists earned him man of the match honors.

Details

, style="width:60%; vertical-align:top;", Match rules *90 minutes. *30 minutes of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

if necessary. * Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. *Maximum of twelve named substitutes. *Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.

Statistics

Post-match

Ivory Coast won their third Africa Cup of Nations title. They became the first host nation to win the tournament since Egypt in the 2006 tournament, in which Ivory Coast finished as runners-up. Ivory Coast subsequently celebrated their victory with a parade on the streets of Abidjan, part of "huge celebrations across the country".

Notes

References

External links

* {{Ivory Coast national football team matches Final

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Nigeria national football team matches Ivory Coast national football team matches February 2024 sports events in Africa Sports competitions in Abidjan 2023–24 in Nigerian football