Osimhen's Nigeria Aim To Deny Hosts Ivory Coast In AFCON Final

Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Feb, 2024) Victor Osimhen's Nigeria stand in the way of Ivory Coast in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final, as the tournament hosts aim to complete the most remarkable of turnarounds by lifting the trophy.

The most thrilling AFCON in recent memory concludes at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, on the dusty outskirts of Abidjan, with a heavyweight showdown between two West African footballing powerhouses.

Eleven years after they were last crowned continental champions, Nigeria are hoping to win their fourth title, and in doing so match the tally of old rivals Ghana.

Ivory Coast, meanwhile, will join the Super Eagles on three titles if they become the first host nation to lift the trophy since Egypt beat them on penalties in 2006.

Their journey just to get to this stage has been unlike almost anything that has come before in the history of major international tournament football.

After beating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the opening game on January 13, things began to go awry when they lost 1-0 to Nigeria in a close-fought encounter five days later.

The Elephants then found themselves on the brink of becoming just the second Cup of Nations hosts in the last 30 years to be eliminated in the group stage after a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea.

It was their heaviest ever home defeat, and it cost veteran French coach Jean-Louis Gasset his job.

Yet a combination of favourable results elsewhere allowed them to squeeze through to the last 16 as the last of the four best third-placed teams.