The day has dawned, Sunday 11th February, 2024 and la Côte d’Ivoire will be aiming to complete their Africa Cup of Nations fairytale tonight when they play Nigeria in the final to be staged at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan.
While the Elephants will be targeting a third continental title, the Super Eagles will be chasing their fourth AFCON crown.
The hosts survived elimination by a whisker and went on to eliminate the defending champions Senegal, Mali and DR Congo en route to the final.
The 2013 winners beat Cameroon in the Round of 16, before defeating Angola and South Africa to set a date with the Elephants.
Côte d’Ivoire are the most motivated team after a poor start to the tournament, they have nothing to lose. They defeated Mali 1-0 in the semi-final to advance.
Nigeria are under pressure to deliver for the first time in 11 years; they needed a 4-2 shootout win to eliminate South Africa from contention after a 1-1 draw in both regulation and extra time.
This is the fifth time the two nations will be meeting in AFCON since 2006. The wins and losses have been evenly shared, with no draws.
The last meeting was in the ongoing edition where the Super Eagles won by a solitary goal netted by William Troost-Ekong.
Côte d’Ivoire’s interim coach Emerse Fae was not his country’s first choice to replace the outgoing Gasset yet now he holds aloft his country’s national flag into the final.
Now Fae can now join an elite list of African Cup of Nations-winning managers just weeks after taking charge of a senior match for the first time.
Since 2000, six of the 12 AFCON finals have gone into extra-time.
Côte d’Ivoire have made the AFCON final on four occasions, with each finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Nigeria have lost only once across their last 14 internationals. However, four of Nigeria’s last nine games have finished 1-1.
History tells us that AFCON finals tend to be tight affairs, especially when The Elephants are involved.
