Nigeria vs Ivory Coast LIVE: Afcon final updates as Sebastien Haller’s late goal wins tournament for hosts
Nigeria 1-2 Ivory Coast: The tournament hosts come from behind to lift the Africa Cup of Nations for a third time
Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations after coming from behind to defeat Nigeria in the final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
The hosts started as the better, more aggressive team, creating chances on goal and playing with a confidence that they’ve lacked throughout the rest of the tournament. The fans inside the stadium gave the match a lively and excitable atmosphere but Nigeria threatened to provide an upset.
In a rare attack up the pitch they won a corner that came curling onto the head of William Troost-Ekong who nodded it into the back of the net for the opener to give them the lead at half-time.
Ivory Coast didn’t give in. They came out for the second half with gusto and equalised through a set piece of their own. Franck Kessie drifting into space and powering a header into the deck before it bounced into the net. A sign of fate perhaps came at the end of the game. Sebastien Haller, who missed the start of the tournament through injury, stuck his foot onto a cross and turned it past Stanley Nwabali to decide the match.
Relive the Afcon final and get all the latest betting site offers here.
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Who will triumph in the Africa Cup of Nations final?
The Super Eagles are aiming for a fourth continental crown in Abidjan while the Ivorians are looking to add to their triumphs in 1992 and 2015.
The teams meet for the second time at this tournament, 24 days after the Ivorians suffered a first-ever home defeat by Nigeria who won 1-0 in the group stage.
Can Nigeria repeat that performance on the biggest stage?
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
London at the heart of Nigeria’s Afcon bid
By Mark Gleeson
Nigeria will have a strong London connection in tonight’s Africa Cup of Nations final with key players born in Britain likely to line up against the Ivory Coast.
There are four players born in the boroughs of the British capital in the Nigerian squad plus two other key regulars, Calvin Bassey and midfielder Alex Iwobi, who have lived in London from an early age.
Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi and Ademola Lookman are English-born and have made a major contribution to Nigeria’s progress to the final.
Joe Aribo, also from London and who struggled with injury at the start of the tournament, has had limited game time but has contributed off the bench.
Lookman, who is Nigeria’s top scorer at the tournament with three goals, is proving an excellent partner in attack alongside African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen.
Aina has emerged as arguably the best right back on view over the last month in the Ivory Coast while centre back Ajayi has played every minute of their six games.
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Hollywood ending for Ivory Coast?
Ivory Coast have had the most improbable run; minutes away from a group stage exit, they sacked the manager, regrouped and went again under caretaker Emerse Fae. Late comebacks, stunning winners, penalties... everything has gone their way since and the 1-0 win over DR Congo put them in a first final in almost a decade.
More than that, the team have gone from national embarrassment, through restoring respectability and now to the point of being heroes in a few short weeks.
Since their last Afcon win in 2015, Ivory Coast have failed to qualify for two successive World Cup finals, in Russia and Qatar. They also failed to get past the quarter-finals in three straight Afcon appearances, underperforming squads filled with the likes of Wilfried Bony, Jean Michael Seri, Salomon Kalou, Wilfried Zaha and Eric Bailly.
It all makes the scale of this year’s turnaround all the more notable, while victory in the final itself would bring them level with three Afcon triumphs with their opponents, Nigeria. But sometimes in football, in any sport in fact, fairytale stories don’t have that incredible, improbable, unbelievable-yet-believable Hollywood-style ending.
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Road to the final - Nigeria
Group C
Jan 14 (Abidjan) drew 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea (Victor Osimhen)
Jan 18 (Abidjan) beat Ivory Coast 1-0 (William Troost-Ekong pen)
Jan 22 (Abidjan) beat Guinea Bissau 1-0 (Opa Sangante own goal)
Last 16
Jan 27 (Abidjan) beat Cameroon 2-0 (Ademola Lookman 2)
Quarter-final
Feb 2 (Abidjan) beat Angola 1-0 (Lookman)
Semi-final
Feb 7 (Bouake) beat South Africa 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw (Troost-Ekong pen)
Road to the final - Ivory Coast
Group Stages
Jan 13 (Abidjan) beat Guinea Bissau 2-0 (Seko Fofana, Jean-Philippe Krasso)
Jan 18 (Abidjan) lost to Nigeria 0-1
Jan 22 (Abidjan) lost to Equatorial Guinea 0-4
Last 16
Jan 29 (Yamoussoukro) beat Senegal 5-4 on penalties after 1-1 draw (Franck Kessie pen)
Quarter-final
Feb 3 (Bouake) beat Mali 2-1 after extra time (Simon Adingra, Oumar Diakite)
Semi-final
Feb 7 (Abidjan) beat DR Congo 1-0 (Sebastien Haller)
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Predicted line-ups
Nigeria: Nwabali, Troost-Ekong, Ajayi, Bassey, Aina, Osayi-Samuel, Onyeka, Iwobi, Simon, Lookman, Osimhen.
Ivory Coast: Fofana, Konan, Ndicka, Boly, Singo, Kessie, Seri, Seko Fofana, Adingra, Haller, Gradel.
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Hitting the back of the net in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of a major international tournament should, usually, see strikers head into the final itself brimming with confidence and expectant of leading their country to glory. When that centre-forward has also been one of the game’s elite goalscorers over the past few seasons, even more so. Yet for Nigeria and Victor Osimhen, there’s perhaps instead a lingering sense of frustration, annoyance and unfulfilment, a feeling that he has been thwarted by fractions and unable to be at his explosive best.
Big-match preview, by Karl Matchett
Ivory Coast need a hero but Nigeria’s superstar can spoil their party
The hosts have momentum after a wild ride at the Africa Cup of Nations - but the Super Eagles have the continent’s best striker
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
How to watch online
The game will be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport apps and websites. Sky Sports customers can access coverage via the Sky Go app and website.
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Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
When and where is the Afcon final?
Nigeria take on hosts Ivory Coast on Sunday 11 February, at 8pm GMT. The game will take place at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
Is the final on TV?
The Afcon final will be broadcast live on BBC Three as well as Sky Sports’ Main Event and Premier League channels.
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria LIVE: Latest Afcon final build-up and updates
Ivory Coast take on Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations final as a thrilling tournament concludes with a blockbuster final in Abidja.
Ivory Coast, the tournament hosts, suffered a torrid start to their campaign and sacked their head coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, following a 4-0 humiliation by Equatorial Guinea. Yet they squeezed through to the knockout stages as a best third-placed team and then proceeded to knock out reigning champions Senegal, much-fancied Mali and DR Congo in the semi-finals to book their place in the final.
Nigeria had steamrolled through most of this Africa Cup of Nations until their tense semi-final with South Africa, which went to a penalty shootout, where Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho put away the winning spot-kick. Nigeria are looking to secure their fourth Afcon title, while Ivory Coast would win their third if they can finish their extraordinary campaign with victory in the country’s capital, Abidjan.
Folllow all the latest Afcon final build-up, team news and more below, and get all the latest betting site offers on the final here.
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