And so it ends. After a month of some of the best football and drama the continent has ever seen, AFCON 2023 comes to a close. Hosts Ivory Coast will look to complete what has been one of the most remarkable in-tournament turnarounds in recent memories, while for the Super Eagles, a 4th title would be the dream as they aim to restore glory to Nigerian football. The Super Eagles have relied heavily on their solid defense throughout this campaign, with Stanley Nwabali emerging as a standout performer for Nigeria. Nwabali’s stellar performance in the semi-finals against South Africa earned him the Man of the Match accolade as he made four crucial saves during regulation time and stopped two penalties in the shootout. Having come into this tournament with a lot of expectations, Nwabali has repaid Jose Peseiro’s faith in him when he made him a starter on such short notice. Other key contributors to Nigeria’s success include skipper Troost-Ekong, who has been a stalwart in defense, and Ola Aina, whose exceptional performance has stood out. Aina’s services to Victor Osimhen have been excellent, as he has created seven scoring opportunities for the Napoli man in the tournament. This partnership ranks as the most fruitful at an AFCON tournament since 2013 when Burkina Faso’s Charles Kaboré created nine chances for Aristide Bancé. Osimhen, meanwhile, has had 24 shots, although he’s only managed one goal (4% conversion rate). It continues to be a letdown for members of the online betting community who have repeatedly backed him to score. He’s been unlucky sometimes, with 2 goals being ruled out by VAR, but in other cases, he’s simply lacked the ruthlessness in front of goal he showed last season at Napoli. Nonetheless, Osimhen remains a crucial component of the Nigerian team, contributing in various ways beyond scoring goals. The Ivorians will feel like they are destined for the title after overcoming the toughest of challenges in the past month. Their recent 1-0 victory against DR Congo marked only their second match without conceding a goal and their second win in regulation time. Following two previous rounds that required extra time, they were overdue for a more straightforward victory. Now, their focus shifts to facing a Nigerian team that decisively defeated them during the group stage. One stat worth noting is that all six of Ivory Coast’s goals have been scored by different players; Seko Fofana, Jean-Philippe Krasso, Franck Kessié, Simon Adingra, Oumar Diakité and Sebastien Haller. This makes it even harder to nail down a threat. In contrast, 3 players have scored 6 of Nigeria’s 7 goals (excluding the own-goal, of course); Ademola Lookman (3), William Troost-Ekong (2) and Victor Osimhen (1).
**Head-To-Head** These two teams will meet for the 8th time in the AFCON and the 29th time overall. In the previous 7 AFCON encounters, there have been 2 draws, 3 wins for Nigeria, one of which was the 1-0 group stage win 3 weeks ago, while the Ivorians have won twice. The Super Eagles have faced the Elephants in each of their 3 previous title-winning campaigns: a group stage draw in 1980, a 4-2 semi-final victory on penalties (2-2 after extra time) in 1994, and a 2-1 triumph in the quarter-finals in 2013. With a history of success against them in their glory years, Nigeria will look to continue this positive trend after already encountering them in this tournament. ● **Nigeria Wins: 9** ● **Ivory Coast Wins: 9** ● **Draws: 10** **Team News** **Nigeria: Victor Osimhen** is still nursing an abdominal injury, but there’s no stopping him from playing in the biggest game of his international career. The only notable absentee could be Left-Wing Back, Zaidu Sanusi who missed the semi-final with an injury. With no positive updates on his condition, we expect Bright Osayi-Samuel to keep his place in the starting line-up. **Ivory Coast:** For the hosts, Serge Aurier and Oumar Diakite will be available for selection again after both players missed the semi-final through suspension. We expect Aurier to slot back into the starting line-up while Diakite, the hero in the win over Mali, will have to make do with a place on the bench.
**Possible Line-Ups** **Nigeria (3-4-2-1):** Nwabali; Ajayi, Troost-Ekong, Bassey; Osayi-Samuel, Onyeka, Iwobi, Aina; Simon, Lookman; Osimhen **Ivory Coast (4-3-3):** Fofana; Aurier, Boly, N’Dika, Konan; Kessie, Seri, Fofana; Pepe, Haller, Adingra **AFCON Finals Facts** ● All four of Ivory Coast’s previous AFCON finals have ended goalless and gone to penalties – they won two (1992 and 2015, both vs Ghana) and lost two (2006 vs Egypt and 2012 vs Zambia). ● The two most common scorelines in AFCON finals are 1-0 (eight times) and 0-0 (seven times) – since 2002, nine of the 11 finals have ended in one of those scorelines, with the other two 2-1 wins for Tunisia in 2004 and Cameroon in 2017. ● Ivory Coast are the first host nation to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final since Egypt in 2006, who won the trophy that year on penalties against the Elephants. ● Five of the last six host nations to reach the final have won the tournament, the exception being Nigeria in 2000 (drew 2-2 with Cameroon, lost 4-3 on penalties). ● Nigeria are playing in their eighth AFCON final, only Egypt and Ghana (both 9) have played in more such games in the competition (excluding final groups). The Super Eagles have been victorious in two of their last three (1994 and 2013, lost on penalties in 2000) having lost their three beforehand (1984, 1988 and 1990). ● Following their 1-0 win in the group stages over Ivory Coast, Nigeria will look to beat the same nation twice in a CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament for the first time since 2006, when they beat Senegal in the group stage and third-place play-off. **Betting Tips:**
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