Ivory Coast crowned 2023 AFCON champions after beating Nigeria | OneFootball

Highlights

Ivory Coast have been crowned the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations winners as they beat Nigeria in the final 2-1 on Sunday evening, despite falling behind in the first half.

Ivory Coast were the better side throughout almost the entire match. They were the team conjuring up chances early on and dominated proceedings in the first half. They failed to make any of their pressure count in the first 45 minutes, though, and Nigeria made them pay when they showed just how clinical they could be.

With one of their first real forrays forward into the Ivory Coast half, they broke the deadlock through William Troost-Ekong. It was incredibly harsh on the Elephants who had spent the majority of the half in control, but the strike didn't deter them. Instead, they were immediately back on the front foot.

Their pressure in the second half eventually paid off when Franck Kessie got on the end of a corner to equalise and then Sebastian Haller bagged the winner in the final 10 minutes to seal the deal and complete quite the fairytale tournament for the nation.

Nigeria took the lead in the first half

It was against the run of play

Despite coming into the contest as the favourites, Nigeria struggled to really find their feet early in the game, and it led to Ivory Coast dominating for large spells of the opening 45 minutes. They pushed forward and created numerous chances to break the deadlock, but couldn't quite find the back of the net.

Out of nowhere, Nigeria managed to do just that. The Super Eagles had spent very little time in their opponents' final third throughout the first 35 minutes, but once they got there, they made it count. After creating their first real opportunity of the game, Nigeria won a corner in the 38th minute, their first of the game.

That was all they needed, though, as Troost-Ekong got on the head of it to nod a looping header over Yahia Fofana to give Nigeria the 1-0 lead, and they held onto that until half-time, despite the Ivory Coast pressure.

Ivory Coast turned things around in the second half

Goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller won it for them

After their dominance counted for very little in the first half, Ivory Coast made the most of it after the restart and turned the game on its head in the second half. They picked up right where they left off, dominating play and controlling the ball for the majority of the half. They were finally rewarded, though, when Franck Kessie got onto the end of a corner and head home an equaliser shortly after the hour mark. It was a goal they thoroughly deserved, but they weren't done just yet.

After creating a number of other chances, including an audacious overhead kick from Haller, the former West Ham United man got onto the end of a cross and connected with an incredible volley to poke the ball past Stanley Nwabali in the 81st minute and give Ivory Coast the lead. It was cruel on Nigeria, but was thoroughly deserved for the Elephants who had been the much better team throughout the game.

Despite having Victor Osimhen leading the lines, Nigeria managed to record just one shot on target all game and Ivory Coast held on to their lead throughout the last 10 minutes of regular time and the seven minutes of added time to win the game and the Africa Cup of Nations trophy, bringing an end to an incredible fairytale that's played out throughout the entire tournament.