Nigeria’s Super Eagles will face the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire, at the final of the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara.
The teams, which were grouped in the tournament’s Group A, met at the group stage match, which Nigeria won 1-0.
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The host nation won only one of its three matches at the group stage, defeating Guinea-Bissau 1-0 and losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea to garner three points, falling on the brink of not qualifying for the next round.
But it luckily swarmed through the murky water of elimination, emerging as one of the four best losers at the group stage to qualify for the next round.
The next round of 16 pitted the team against the defending champion, Senegal.
Despite hurriedly appointing a new coach, Emerse Fae, Côte d’Ivoire defeated Senegal 5-4 via penalties shootout after a 1-1 draw in regular time, while the team edged Mali 2-1 in the quarterfinal to advance to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, the host country defeated the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0, thanks to Sebastien Haller’s goal, which fired them to the final.
Earlier, before the clash between Cote d’Ivoire and DR Congo, Nigeria had secured a spot in the final after defeating South Africa 4-2 via penalty shootout.
The match ended 1-1 after regular time.
Nigeria’s road to the final saw them scale through the group stage matches by winning Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau 1-0, respectively, with a 1-1 against Equatorial Guinea in the opening match to finish second in the group with seven points.
In the round of 16, Nigeria defeated Cameroon 2-0, thanks to Ademola Lookman’s brace, to zoom to the quarterfinals.