Nigeria and Ivory Coast is the final in this year's edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The Nigerians found a place in trophy contention after drama with South Africa, while the hosts qualified for the final clash after a narrow 1-0 win over Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Ivorians, who earlier in the competition eliminated reigning champions Senegal on penalties, stopped DR Congo's flight. Striker Sebastian Haller became a hero for the team, with his goal in the 65th minute turned out to be the only one in the meeting in Abidjan.
Earlier, Nigeria had to tremble to get into the gold medal match. William Paul Troost-Ekong gave the Super Eagles the lead in the 67th minute from the penalty spot, but in the final minute Teboho Mokoena took the game into extra time after also making no mistake from the penalty spot. The drama surrounding the goal was complete as Victor Osimhen scored a second goal for the hosts, which was disallowed by VAR for a foul in the Nigerian penalty area. Mokoena scored, and shortly after the South Africans could have decided everything, but a great miss was made by Khuliso Mudau.
South Africa's Grant Kekana was sent off with a straight red card in the 115th minute, but the team held on and went to a penalty shootout. There, Nigeria made just one miss through Ola Aina, while South Africa made two mistakes through Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa.
Nigeria will fight for a fourth trophy and first since 2013. Ivory Coast will try to delight the home crowd with their third honor of the competition and first since 2015. The final is on Sunday, February 11, at 22:00 Bulgarian time, and the dispute for third place between South Africa and DR Congo is a day earlier. /BGNES
