WATCH Nigeria vs Cote d’ivore LIVE!: AFCON 2023 FINAL

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will today clash with the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the final of the 2023 African Cup of Nations.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria had an erratic start to their campaign but flew impressively into the final to send strong signals of title contenders.

On the other hand, Cotê d’Ivoire qualified for the Round of 16 as one of the third best-placed teams following a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea almost ending their campaign.

The Super Eagles, following a tough draw that paraded the likes of Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and the host country Cote d’Ivoire, secured the second-place finish in Group A.
The Super Eagles, fresh from a nerve-wracking 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea, won by a slim margin of 1-0 against the Elephants from the tournament, and followed it up with the same narrow result against Guinea-Bissau to join 16 teams in the first knockout stage.

Getting into the groove and picking up the pace in the Round of 16, Nigeria were too much for the Indomitable Lions, knocking them out of the competition after an interesting match in which red-hot Ademola Lookman of Nigeria scored twice in his team’s 2-0 win.

The 1-0 win over a strong Angola of the Super Eagles in the quarterfinals in Abidjan was far from anything like a goal-scoring spree. The three-time champions surely presented a display with the perfect attitude of champions and game management qualities even if they could not score more than once.

Nigeria were up against South Africa, a country that they have faced dominance and this was their seventh meeting. They prevailed 4-2 on penalties to reach the final. Nigeria repeated their 2000 semi-finals upset of South Africa by prevailing on penalties after 120 minutes ended 1-1. Stanley Nwabali of Super Eagle’s was named the Man of the Match in their quest for the fourth AFCON trophy after a stunning display saving two penalties.

The Super Eagles consequently sealed qualification for the final where they seek to land their fourth AFCON trophy, the last coming in 2013.

In front of a vociferous crowd at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, the host nation Cotê d’Ivoire began with a firm 2-0 victory over Guinea Bissau through goals from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso.

The fortunes of Jean-Louis Gasset and his team started to unravel after losing 1-0 to Nigeria in the second match. This was then followed by a 3-0 result against Nigeria. This was the beginning of the Ivorians’ troubles against Nigeria.

Needing to defeat Equatorial Guinea in the final game to qualify automatically, but the Nzalang proved tough customers. The Elephants are 4-0 down and are packing to go home.

It was until the last group stage match of the whole competition for Morocco and Zambia that Côte d’Ivoire (3 points) was sure of qualifying for the Round of 16 as the best third-placed team.

The Elephants’ coaching staff was shaken up before the knockout stage. Emerse Faé succeeded Gasset, sacked after the Equatorial Guinea defeat.

Cotê d’Ivoire’s fortune smiled on them in the round of 16 against defending champions Senegal, who they defeated 5-4 on penalties after 120 minutes of 1-1 draw.

The team was set against Mali in the quarterfinals. With their confidence renewed, Cotê d’Ivoire was able to reign over a Mali threat in a 2-1 extra-time victory, even when it went down a man early in the match.

The win saw the home team through to the last four courtesy of goals by Simon Adingra and Oumar Diakite in regulation and extra time, respectively.

Restoring their morale and showing the character needed to compete, Cotê D’Ivoire snuck by the Leopards 1-0 in the semifinals. The Ivorians did enough to win it, though, in the second period on a goal by Sebastian Haller.

Côte d’Ivoire thus advanced to the final in a bid to secure their third AFCON title.

With eyes set on the trophy, Nigeria vs Cote d’Ivoire square up for the second time in this tournament. The match comes up at Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara by 9:00pm (Nigerian time)…[CLICK TO WATCH THE LIVE FINAL MATCH BELOW]>>

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