Hosts Ivory Coast scripted a fairy tale ending to their AFCON journey as they beat Nigeria 2-0 to lift the continental title for the third time.
The West Africans add to their previous Nations Cup wins in 1992 and 2015 and become the first tournament hosts to triumph since Egypt lifted the trophy in 2006.
Their remarkable run to the final included the departure of coach Jean-Louis Gasset after two defeats in the group stage. Interim coach Emerse Fae masterminded Ivory Coast’s passage through the knockout stages, which included dramatic victories over defending champions Senegal and Mali after late equalisers in both games.
Ivory Coast dominated most of the first half in front of a fervent crowd at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium but fell behind in the 38th minute after Troost-Ekong gave Nigeria the lead. Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie then began his team’s fightback with an equalizer in the 62nd minute through an assist by Simon Adingra.
Adingra would prove to be a game-changer again nine minutes from time. In a moment that encapsulated Ivory Coast’s AFCON run, Adingra provided an assist in the 81st minute for Borussia Dortmund forward Sebastian Haller, who stuck out his right leg to guide the ball past the Nigeria goalkeeper and give the hosts the lead, which they held on to.
Haller marks inspiring turnaround at AFCON 2023
Having returned to football after recovering from testicular cancer just a year ago, Haller was the epitome of Ivory Coast’s sensational AFCON run.
After two operations and four rounds of chemotherapy, the 29-year-old completed an extraordinary recovery as he returned to the sport in February 2023, capping it off with a seismic moment: scoring his first competitive goal for Dortmund on World Cancer Day last season.
But scoring the winner for your country in the continent’s biggest competition will forever be a moment to cherish for Haller and the Ivory Coast fans, who saw their team on the verge of exit a few times in this enthralling AFCON edition.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
