Heller Shines, Ivory Coast rallies to beat Nigeria 2-1 and win Africa Cup of Nations 2024 and Osimhen fall short.

Sébastien Haller scored late to lead host nation Ivory Coast to a remarkable Africa Cup of Nations title with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final on Sunday.

Haller fired in from close range in the 81st minute to complete the turnaround after Franck Kessié drew the Elephants level in the 62nd.

It was Ivory Coast’s third Afcon title after wins in 1992 and 2015, both won on penalties.

Veteran Ivory Coast midfielder Max Gradel, now 36, was part of the 2015 championship team.

Haller’s second goal in as many games after recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the group stage completed a personal triumph for the player, just over a year since he returned from cancer treatment.

Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong had scored in the 38th against the run of play with a header to a corner. The Super Eagles had been outplayed in the first half and really only threatened again in a desperate attempt to equalize after Haller’s goal.

Troost-Ekong also scored when the teams last met in the group stage for Nigeria’s 1-0 win. That match had been just the start of the Elephants’ troubles as Ivory Coast was almost eliminated in its next game. It fired its coach but recorded late comeback wins over defending champion Senegal and Mali in the knockout stage, before Haller fired the team into the final with the winning goal against Congo in the semifinals.

Ivory Coast’s unlikely progression through the knockout stage as it overcame setback after setback convinced many devout Ivorians that God was on the team’s side.

The Elephants are the first host nation to make it to the final since 2006, when Egypt defeated the Ivorians on penalties in Cairo to take the trophy.
Yet they very nearly became just the second host country in 30 years to go out in the group stage after a disastrous 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea on January 22, their heaviest ever home defeat.

Nigeria conceded as many goals in the final as it had in all its previous games in the tournament. Coach José Peseiro had banked on a mean defense to earn what would have been the Super Eagles’ fourth title.

In the final, Ivory Coast’s pressure finally paid off when Kessié's header to Adingra’s corner set off a tumult of joy in the 60,000-capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium. Kessié ran to the corner and raised his hand to his forehead in salute as the sea of orange-clad fans rippled in delight.

Haller’s winner set off celebrations that will last long through the night in Abidjan and in the rest of the country of 27.5 million people.

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