Nigeria vs Côte d'Ivoire Preview | AFCON 2023

CONTEXT

Nigeria

Heading into the tournament, Jose Peseiro declined an offer from the Nigerian Football Federation, continuing to disappoint in his role with The Super Eagles. The Nigerians struggled for consistency and fluency, evident in their disappointing 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea at the start of the competition.

However, since then, they've transformed into a formidable "tournament team," boasting an impressive defensive record. Consecutive clean sheet victories, including a triumph over their upcoming final opponents, propelled them through the group stage. They followed this with a composed 1-0 win against Angola in the quarter-finals, preceded by a 2-0 victory over Cameroon. While their dramatic penalty shootout victory over South Africa was nervier than anticipated, they managed to advance.

Côte d'Ivoire

Heading into the final of a major tournament, Côte d'Ivoire find themselves without a permanent manager. Former Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux coach Jean-Louis Gasset parted ways with the Ivorian FA after the group stages, following their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Equatorial Guinea, seemingly spelling their elimination. However, they managed to scrape through as the fourth-best third-placed team.

Remarkably, under the stewardship of former Reading midfielder Emerse Fae, they went on to defeat defending champions Senegal on penalties, the only team to have won all three group games, before securing an extra-time victory over an impressive Mali side in the quarter-finals. Their most polished performance of the tournament occurred on Wednesday evening when they secured a 1-0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo.

PREDICTED LINE-UPS

Nigeria

PREDICTED XI (3-4-3): Nwabali; Ajayi, Troost-Ekong, Bassey; Osayi-Samuel, Onyeka, Iwobi, Aina; Simon, Osimhen, Lookman

Côte d'Ivoire

PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Y. Fofana; Singo, Boly, Ndicka, Konan; Kessie, Seri, S. Fofana; Gradel, Haller, Adingra

PREDICTION

Despite Nigeria's seemingly dominant and composed path to the final, with the exception of their dramatic victory over South Africa in the semi-finals, the reality has been quite different. While they may exude confidence in their defensive capabilities, they face an Ivorian attack that thrives on individual moments of brilliance. Nigeria may have the edge in terms of performance and personnel, but Côte d'Ivoire's home advantage and perceived destiny level the playing field somewhat. Having previously met in the group stages, with Nigeria winning by a narrow margin via a William Troost-Ekong penalty, another tense and nervy encounter is anticipated. Betting against a high-scoring game seems the safest option.