Ivory Coast have won the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Abidjan on Sunday with the Elephants coming from one goal down to triumph at Stade Alassane Ouattara in a fitting finale to a memorable tournament.
Match Report
Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller scored the crucial goals for Emerse Fae's men after William Troost-Ekong had given Jose Peseiro's Super Eagles the lead and capped the hosts' comeback for the most unexpected of triumphs.
Former manager Jean-Louis Gasset was dismissed midway through the tournament, which paved the way for Fae to come in as caretaker boss and lead his country past defending champions Senegal on penalties, Mali in extra time and DR Congo in the knockout phase route to the final.
It completed a remarkable turnaround for the home nation having been on the verge of elimination in Group A after defeats to the Nigerians and Equatorial Guinea only to survive as one of the best third-placed sides and advance all the way from there.
Nigeria emerged as the other finalists after seeing off Cameroon, Angola and eventual third-placed South Africa and they took the lead through a looping Troost-Ekong header after 38 minutes which held until just after the hour.
It was another header, this time for Ivory Coast, which leveled things up on 62 minutes when Simon Adingra notched the first of his two assists when teeing up Kessie's unmarked header to beat Stanley Nwabili.
It was Adingra who also set up the winner nine minutes from time as he whipped the ball in for Haller to flick home and complete a remarkable personal story after the Borussia Dortmund man's battle with testicular cancer.
Nigeria were unable to find a response despite significant time added on at the end and Ivory Coast confirmed their third title which moves them level with the Super Eagles and sparked jubilation at Stade Alassane Ouattara.
Legendary former Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba was present in Abidjan and was seen joining in the celebrations as the hosts completed their miraculous recovery to triumph much to the delight of just over 60,000 spectators.
The Ivorians last triumphed back in 2015 but this was the first time that a host national has won an AFCON title on home soil since record seven-time winners Egypt back in 2006 when the Elephants were runners-up.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
7' Highlight from Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
20' Highlight from Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
33' Match Event for Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
38' GOAL! Nigeria 1-0 Ivory Coast (William Troost-Ekong)
48' Highlight from Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
49' Match Event for Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
54' Highlight from Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
59' Match Event for Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
62' GOAL! Nigeria 1-1 Ivory Coast (Franck Kessié)
75' Highlight from Nigeria vs Ivory Coast
81' GOAL! Nigeria 1-2 Ivory Coast (Sébastien Haller)
Line-ups
Nigeria XI: W. Troost-Ekong, Iwobi, Semi Ajayi, Aina, Samuel Chukwueze, Osimhen, Lookman, Zaidu, Frank Onyeka, Calvin Bassey, Stanley Nwabili
Subs: Omeruo, A. Musa, Paul Onuachu, Moses Simon, Iheanacho, F. Uzoho, Joe Aribo, Awaziem, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Terem Moffi, Alhassan Yusuf, Raphael Onyedika
Ivory Coast XI: Gradel, Aurier, Haller, Seri, S.Fofana, Kessie, Ghislain Konan, Yahia Fofana, N'Dicka, Odilon, Simon Adingra
Subs: Badra Ali Sangaré, Jérémie Boga, Pepe, Bamba, Jean-Philippe Krasso, Sangare, Ismaël Diallo, Kouame, Lazare Amani, Singo, Oumar Diakité, Ousmane Diomande
Kingsgate1234
800
Haller💎 has more Goals than Oshimen despite playing less as well😂😂 CLEAR OF HIM💯🤝
CRUST
752
Ivory Coast just saved us from noise pollution 😂😂😂
20emma3_
606
Ivory Coast thank you for saving the whole world from noise pollution😂😂🖖🙏
Lauralee
581
No Grammy No Afcon No fuel No light No president 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺😩😩😩😩😩😩
Kingsgate1234
549
Ghanaians , South Africans , Cameroon people and Angolans after the Match be like 👇💯🤝😂😂😂
Lauralee
530
The comeback king. Let’s get 1000 likes for this phenomenal performance from this man.
Benxavi10
454
QUESTION: What does Naija and cancer have in common? ANSWER: They were both beaten by Sebastian😂😂
Recacklmnz
442
thank u ivory for stopping the noise
Iskutashi11
412
The Eagle is down... I repeat, the Eagle is down😂😂😂😂
Alphal
371
Simon Adingra deserves some love ❤️ although he was lucked by Aina he manage to pass
LEOMI10
357
At 60:00: Nigerian keeper laughed the poor header from Kessie. At 62:00: Just after 2 mins, Kessie scored a header. Kessie to Nigerian Keeper: "Life comes at you fast!"
ajaxavineast
341
my hero the survivor indeed hat off to you king I bow down AFTER SUCH PAINFUL JOURNEY HIS STORY REMIND ME OF MY DAD HE FELL SO SICK BUT IT WAS HARD FOR THE DOCTORS TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS REALLY THE COZ OF HIS SICKNESS THEY FIND NOTHING HE TRIED SO HARD 😭😭TO FIGHT BUT IT WAS HARD BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW THE PROBLEM AFTER A YEAR THEY FIND WHAT IT WAS "CANCER " N THEY TOLD US IT WAS ON THE LAST STAGE THAT DOCTOR EVEN SAID HE WAS STRONG IN HIS STAGE COS MOST PEOPLE ARE DIEYIN AT THAT STAGE R.I.P PAPA THANK YOU BRO FOR CONQUERING THIS THING SHOW THE WORLD ITS BEATABLE
Dyope
333
Nigeria should just focus on music and JUJU ..🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
dougiefresh
325
I know you heard this before but I'll remind you because these things don't happen very often. 18 days ago, Ivory Coast sacked their coach Jean-Louis Gasset after back-to-back defeats in the AFCON group stages. They scraped through to the last-16 and brought in Emerse Faé, who had never managed a senior game of football. Four games later, he wins his first trophy,the biggest in Africa. INCREDIBLE 🏆🤯
Fris
317
The Eagle is down... I repeat, the Eagle is down
Darcybecky
224
You can find every gif of nice goals here: http://www.goalgif.xyz/v2/live/matchGifs?match_id=53801203&language=en
malablata
222
Finally Emmanuel Adebayor had touched an AFCON trophy.....😂
Pecelrtuz
195
Ivory coast won but the joy was more felt in Ghana who had the electricity to watch the full game cheering fr ivory coast, congs ivory coast u saved the rest of Africa from noise pollution. [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
Kingsgate1234
159
Sebastien Haller beat testicular cancer and returned to competitive football in January A little over a year later , He scores the winner for Ivory Coast🇨🇮 over Nigeria to win Cote I'dvoire The AFCON🏆🔥 Wholesome❤️ Story🥰
Iskutashi11
152
Ghana 🇬🇭 Fans arriving in the comment section are like😂😂😂😂
Techniciansy2k
83
I guess it's more safe to say that most of the AF comments are always from Africa