Côte d’Ivoire came from behind to clinch a 2-1 victory over Nigeria at Abidjan’s Alassane Ouattara Stadium and earn their third Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title, and their first on home soil.
Having made it into the finals against all odds, Côte d’Ivoire made a great start to the match and almost got an early opener when Sébastien Haller—who scored the only goal in the semi-final against DR Congo—got on the end of Simon Adingra’s dangerous cross, only for his effort to derail off target.
The hosts, backed by a massive home crowd kept on knocking and should have scored about 20 minutes into the game, as Adingra forced a smart save from Stanley Nwabili.
Nigeria, however, grabbed the opener against the run of play in the 32nd minute with their only shot on goal as captain William Troost-Ekong rose highest in the box to put the three-time African champions ahead from a routine corner and grab his third goal of the competition, as the Super Eagles eased into the break with the lead.
Côte d’Ivoire came into the second half the hungrier side yet again, so it wasn’t surprising when they finally found an equaliser in the 62nd minute through an unmarked Franck Kessié who converted from a corner to grab his second AFCON 2023 goal.
19 minutes later, heroic Haller got his leg on Adingra’s cross to fire his side ahead in the AFCON 2023 final against a Nigerian side that didn’t show much intent for goal.
Consequently, Jose Peseiro in a bid to salvage the game made a couple of substitutions with underwhelming Alex Iwobi and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman making way for Alhassan Yusuf and Kelechi Iheanacho in the 79th minute, but the Ivorians held on and soaked all pressure to claim a well-deserved victory and become the first country to win a AFCON at home since Egypt in 2006.
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