Tournament favourites Nigeria will face hosts Ivory Coast in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe on Sunday, February 11.
The two African giants have not come up against each other much since the turn of the millennium. There are just eight meetings on record in 24 years prior to this final. Out of those, three have been in the AFCON. The others were played as friendlies or part of miscellaneous competitions.
That being said, let’s take a look at their head-to-head record.
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast: Head to Head Record (Since 2000)
- Ivory Coast 0-1 Nigeria (01/24)
- Nigeria 0-1 Ivory Coast (01/15)
- Ivory Coast 2-0 Nigeria (07/13)
- Nigeria 4-1 Ivory Coast (07/13)
- Ivory Coast 1-2 Nigeria (02/13)
- Ivory Coast 1-0 Nigeria (01/08)
- Nigeria 0-1 Ivory Coast (02/06)
- Ivory Coast 1-1 Nigeria (01/02)
As you can see, seven of their eight meetings have resulted in clear wins, with Ivory Coast taking four wins to Nigeria’s three. The teams shared one score draw between them back in 2002.
These eight games have seen a total of just 16 goals with an average of two goals per game, with both teams sharing eight goals apiece. Moreover, The Elephants have kept an impressive four clean sheets, but the Super Eagles’ solitary clean sheet came in the group stages earlier in the tournament.
All this points towards yet another tight game between two of African football’s juggernauts. That being said, let’s take a look at their record so far at this edition of the AFCON.
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast: Tournament So Far
Nigeria have been rock-solid so far in the competition and qualified for the knockout stages as runners-up in Group A. They drew 1-1 with group winners Equatorial Guinea, before securing wins against Guinea-Bissau (1-0) and fellow finalists Ivory Coast (1-0).
The Super Eagles then knocked Cameroon in the round of 16, Angola in the quarters and South Africa in the semi-finals to reach their eighth AFCON final in their history. Having already won the cup before in 1980, 1994 and 2013, they will look to win their fourth this time around.
Ivory Coast, on the other hand, could be considered very lucky for having made it out of their group. They won 2-0 against Guinea-Bissau in their opener, before falling 1-0 to Nigeria and being thrashed 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea. This left them in third place and they qualified as the worst third-placed team.
However, they knocked defending champions Senegal out of the round of 16 5-4 on penalties. They then defeated Mali (2-1 a.e.t.) in the quarters and DR Congo (1-0) in the semi-finals to reach their fifth AFCON final in history. The Elephants will look to make it five on home soil in what promises to be an enticing encounter.