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The host country of the 34th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire 2023, have come a long way in the competition to reach the final.
Cotê d’Ivoire made good use of their qualification as one of the third best placed teams after a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea nearly ended their campaign.
With just a game away to becoming champions of Africa, let’s a look at their journey to the final.
Group A – qualified as third best placed team
In a charged atmosphere at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Cotê d’Ivoire started their campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau with goals from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso.
The hosts slipped in their second game with a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria and everything started crumbling for Jean-Louis Gasset and his men.
They needed a win in their last game against Equatorial Guinea to qualify automatically but the Nzalang proved to be difficult to beat. The Elephants suffered a 4-0 defeat and were on their way home.
It wasn’t until the final group stage match of the entire tournament between Morocco and Zambia that Côte d’Ivoire (3 points) secured a spot as the best third-placed team, ensuring qualification for the round of 16.
efore the knockout stage, the Elephants’ coaching staff was reshuffled. Emerse Faé took over from Gasset, who was sacked after the heavy loss to Equatorial Guinea.
Round of 16 – (Cotê d’Ivoire 5 – 4 Senegal on penalties)
Things started getting better for Cotê d’Ivoire; they showed great composure against defending champions, Senegal by defeating them on penalties after the 120 minutes ended 1-1.
Quarter-finals ( Cotê d’Ivoire 2-1 Mali after extra-time)
They had Mali to deal with in the quarter-finals. With their confidence back, Cotê d’Ivoire despite having a player sent off earlier in the game, managed to win.
Late goals from Simon Adingra and Oumar Diakite in the regulation and extra-time respectively won the game for the hosts to book a place in semi-finals.
Semi-finals ( Cotê d’Ivoire 1-0 D.R Congo)
Cotê D’Ivoire gained their confidence in the semi-finals and showed the character required in the tournament by beating the Leopards.
Sebastian Haller scored in the second half to win it for the Ivorians.
Final (Nigeria v Cotê d’Ivoire)
As they face 3 – time champions, Nigeria, Cotê d’Ivoire will have a revenge at the back of their minds but the biggest motivation will be equaling Nigeria’s total number of TotalEnergies CAF AFCON trophies.
Source:CAFonline