AFCON 2024; A Run-through Of The Super Eagles And The Elephants’ Crucial Matches
Efe Ikhenaode
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament took place in Ivory Coast and there was an incredible roller coaster ride for the hosts as they went from near total embarrassment to champions of the continent.
Les Elephants, Ivory Coast’s national football team, rebounded from firing their coach and nearly flunking out at the group stage to beating Senegal, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and to reaching the final stage for a super rematch with Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
The Super Eagles were very stingy, drawing Equatorial Guinea 1-1 before beating Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau by twin 1-0 scores. Then came a 2-0 win over Cameroon and a 1-0 defeat of Angola, and then the penalty-filled match with South Africa which had them (Super Eagles) winning after a series of bottlenecked penalty shots.
This tournament started with big shocks and the drama kept on coming.
It took a William Troost-Ekong penalty to separate the sides in the group stage, as Ivory Coast had 64% possession of the ball and out-attempted Nigeria but lost the game 1-0 on penalty.
The final game started in a similar fashion, as Nigeria’s captain, Troost-Ekong, put the Super Eagles in front again at halftime. The similarities ended there, however, as Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller of Ivory Coast continued their incredible knockout rounds to produce a 2-1 win against Nigeria at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Cancer-defying Sebastian Haller became the hero as Ivory Coast came from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1 and claim their third Africa Cup of Nations trophy. The host nation delighted their fans in Abidjan with Haller completing a wonderful turnaround as he volleyed home the winning goal at nine minutes to stoppage time just after Franck Kessie cancelled out William Troost-Ekong’s first-half header.
AFCON 2024 was truly an interesting competition that is obviously different from other AFCONs played so far in past years. With players and teams making and breaking history to delight Africans and the world at large. It was a competition that had all Africans on their toes supporting, uniting and fighting with their whole might to be crowned champions of Africa’s football.
Subsequently, Africa, and the world in general, look forward to the next competition that would possibly be hosted in Morocco.
