The hosts Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria 2-1 on Sunday to win their third-ever Africa Cup of Nations trophy with goals from Franck Kessié and Sebastian Haller.
Following the Ivorians’ inability to handle a corner, Nigeria took the lead through a powerful header from captain William Troost-Ekong in the first half.
In the second half of the match, the team was tied after an unmarked Kessié scored a goal in the 62nd minute from Simon Adingra’s corner.
As the game was drawing to a close, Haller scored the winning goal in the 81st minute by diverting Adingra’s cross past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. The home team was thrilled to secure the victory.
Nigeria was unable to score a second goal, even with seven minutes of added time at the end of the 90 minutes of play. The referee’s final whistle confirmed that Ivory Coast had won their Third AFCON title in the last decade, after their previous win in 2015. This is also the first time that a host nation has won the tournament since Egypt’s victory in 2006.
After the full-time whistle, both on the pitch and in the stands, there were celebrations as the hosts concluded their extraordinary run in this year’s AFCON.
The Ivorians narrowly made it through the group stages, as they qualified as one of the four best third-place teams in the tournament.
Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked after their defeat against Equatorial Guinea, where they lost 4-0 in their final group game. Emerse Faé was appointed as the interim head coach to replace him once their spot in the last 16 was confirmed.
The Ivory Coast team achieved an unexpected win over the Senegal team, who were the holders of the tournament.
They followed this up with a come-from-behind victory against Mali in the quarter-finals and a nervy 1-0 win over DR Congo in the semi-finals.
The team’s victory in the final was well-deserved as they dominated and showed their resilience once more to come from behind against the Super Eagles.
Despite going into the final with the tournament’s best defensive record and a frontline led by CAF Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, Nigeria was disappointed with the outcome.
Despite this, Nigeria were largely outplayed by their opponents and, aside from Troost-Ekong’s header, barely caused Fofana in the Ivorian goal any issues.
The loss means the Super Eagles’ wait for a fourth AFCON triumph continues, with their most recent success coming in 2013.
