- The Opta supercomputer predicts Nigeria will defeat Ivory Coast in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, with Nigeria having a 56.2% chance of winning based on pre-match simulations
- Nigeria aim to secure victory over Ivory Coast for the second time after their previous 1-0 win in the group stages
- The two countries will face off in the AFCON final to be held in Abidjan on Sunday, February 11, with historical stats showing the significance of the match for both teams
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Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire – The Opta supercomputer has predicted that the Super Eagles of Nigeria will beat the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on Sunday, February 11.
AFCON 2023 Final: What time is Nigeria vs Ivory Coast? Kickoff, live stream, team news, head to head
A report by The Analyston Saturday, February 10, indicates that Nigeria have a 56.2% chance of lifting the trophy based on the 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Following their 1-0 win in the group stages over Ivory Coast, the Super Eagles will be looking to beat the same nation twice.
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Cote d’Ivoire will face Nigeria at the AFCON 2023 finals at the Alassanne Quattara Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan on Sunday, February 11 (9pm Nigerian time).
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast: AFCON final pre-match facts
Ahead of the AFCON final, below are some insightful pre-match facts, as curated by The Analyst:
- Ivory Coast has become the first host nation since Egypt in 2006 to reach the AFCON final. Egypt won the tournament that year on penalties against Ivory Coast after a goalless draw
- In the last six AFCON tournaments, five host nations that reached the final have won the tournament, with Nigeria in 2000 being the exception. Nigeria drew 2-2 with Cameroon in the final and lost 4-3 on penalties
- Nigeria is competing in its eighth AFCON final, trailing only Egypt and Ghana, who have played in nine such games each in the competition (excluding final groups)
- All four of Ivory Coast’s past AFCON finals have resulted in goalless draws, leading to penalty shootouts. They emerged victorious in two of these shootouts against Ghana in 1992 and 2015, while they were defeated in the other two against Egypt in 2006 and Zambia in 2012
- The most frequent scorelines in AFCON finals are 1-0 (eight occurrences) and 0-0 (seven occurrences). Since 2002, nine out of 11 finals have concluded with one of these scorelines, except for two instances of 2-1 wins for Tunisia in 2004 and Cameroon in 2017
Read more on AFCON 2023
AFCON: How we’ll beat Nigeria – Cote d’Ivoire’s coach
Meanwhile, despite Opta supercomputer’s prediction, Emerse Fae, the head coach of the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, has said he will provide a winning formula for his side to beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria
Speaking after his side’s semi-final victory, Fae said he would analyse the Super Eagles and devise a strategy to defeat the three-time AFCON champion.
Source: Legit.ng