Côte d’Ivoire wins AFCON 2023

Update: This post has been updated with information on the winner of the 34th edition of the tournament.

From Abidjan to Bouake, Odienne to Aboisso, the atmosphere in Côte d’Ivoire is definitely filled with joy after the Elephants lifted the African Cup Of Nations trophy in Abidjan, in a tournament many have called “the best AFCON tournament.”

The hosts were down 0 - 1 at half time, thanks to the goal from Nigeria's captain William Troost-Ekong in the 38th minute. Goals from Franck Kessié and Sébastien Haller in the 62nd and 81st minute respectively, put them ahead until the final whistle.

Côte d’Ivoire has now joined the league of AFCON hosts who went on to lift the trophy - Egypt (1959, 1986, 2006), Ethiopia (1962,), Ghana (1963, 1978), Sudan (1970), Nigeria (1980), Algeria (1990), South Africa (1996), and Tunisia (2004).

Nigeria is the country with the most medals at AFCON. In 20 appearances, they have reached the semifinals 16 times, the final eight times, and have won the trophy three times. Add that to their eight bronze medals, and now, five silver medals.

The journey to the final was incredible for both teams. Here’s how they got there.

Côte d’Ivoire

The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire had a great start, beating Guinea-Bissau in the opening game. But their light dimmed after losing 0 - 1 to Nigeria in the next game, and 0 - 4 to Equatorial Guinea in the final group game. The chances of the team advancing to the Round-of-16 looked bleak. The Ivorian Football Federation fired coach Jean-Louis Gasset after the last group game, replacing him with Emerse Fae, the French Ivorian who played initially for France and then for Cote d’Ivoire internationally. Then it was time to hope.

After Morocco beat Zambia, and Tanzania only snagged a goalless draw against DR Congo, the hosts qualified for the next round as “best losers” - which is determined by number of points obtained during the group game, goal difference, and number of goals scored, in that order.

The hosts faced their next daunting task - beat the defending champions, Senegal. After a 1 - 1 draw during regulation and extra time, they beat the Teranga Lions 5 - 4 in penalties. Then they went on to defeat Mail 2 - 1 in the quarterfinals, and DR Congo 1 - 0 in the semifinals. What an inspiring run!

Nigeria

Nigeria is looking to take home their fourth AFCON trophy, with the entire West African country’s X (fka Twitter) supporters solidly behind them. The Super Eagles have had an amazing run in this tournament. They stand as the only team to have not lost a single game and have only conceded two goals in the entire competition.

Scoring has not been their strongest point, but they’ve snatched a win every game since their first when they played 1 - 1 against Equatorial Guinea. Four games later, they scored more than once in only one match — their 2 - 0 defeat over longtime rivals Cameroon.

Their last game against South Africa this week was the most dramatic. After a dramatic regulation time that saw the Super Eagles’ 2 - 0 lead turn to 1 - 1, penalties became inevitable after extra time. Bafana Bafana of South Africa got into penalties with a goalkeeper and captain - Rowan Williams - who stopped four out of five shots from the spot in their last game against Cape Verde. But the Super Eagles came out victorious, scoring four out of five shootouts and South Africa scoring two out of four played.