Thrills, Spills, as Curtains Come Down on Exceptional AFCON 2023

Ivory Coast becomes the 12 host nation to win the Nations Cup title, while Nigeria will be left to rue a fifth defeat in the showpiece game - and their second in Abidjan after losing to Cameroon in 1984

By Boris Esono Nwenfor & Sonita Ngunyi

The Elephants of Ivory Coast picked up their third Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON title following a 2-1 over the Super Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday, February 11. Sebastien Haller struck the winning goal to crown a superb AFCON competition that saw the Elephants coming back from the “grave” to win the title on home soil.

William Troost-Ekong had put Nigeria ahead seven minutes before the end of a cagey first half when the centre-back rose highest to powerfully head in from nine yards out following a corner. The Super Eagles went into the break with their noses in front but knew they had to withstand the onslaught from Ivory Coast in the second half.

And the equalizer will come in the second half as Franck Kessie nodded in the equaliser in the 62nd minute when he was left unmarked at the back post from Adingra's corner. Sebastien Haller who had also netted the semi-final winner just 13 months on from his return from testicular cancer, flicked in Simon Adingra's cross with the toe of his boot with nine minutes remaining to complete a second-half comeback and sparked wild celebrations in Abidjan.

"We dreamt of this moment so many times," an emotional Sebastien Haller told French broadcaster beIN Sports. "These scenes of joy, the country deserves this too. We believed until the end. My teammates pushed me to stay on the pitch for as long as possible and thanks to them I scored."

For the 12th time in history, the host country has won the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and the first since Egypt in 2006. For Côte d’Ivoire, this is their third title ever, after 1992 in Senegal and 2015 in Equatorial Guinea.

Sebastien Haller added: "It was one of my main goals to give everything I could at the Afcon. I was lucky to be here. Now we can say it, they were telling me six to eight weeks with my injury, so based on that today could have been my first match. My ankle still isn't fully healed, but it was OK for today."

The Elephants pick up $7m (£5.54m) in prize money, with Nigeria handed $4m by the Confederation of African Football, CAF. South Africa picked up the bronze medal after a penalty shootout win against DR Congo to capped off a brilliant performance which saw their goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams. Bafana Bafana was equally awarded the fair pay trophy.

The Special One Emerse Fae

Drafted in as the interim coach after the sacking of Louis Gasset, Emerse Fae who was the assistant coach to the Frenchman remarkably turned the fortunes of Ivory Coast with the team going on a four-game winning run that culminated in winning the AFCON.

"It is more than a fairytale. I am struggling to take it all in," Emerse Fae said after Ivory Coast recovered from behind at halftime at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium to win thanks to goals by Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller. "When I think about all we have been through, we are miracle survivors. We never gave up and we managed to come back from so many tough blows."

Emerse Faé is the very first manager to win a CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament without starting the edition as head coach of his team. "All our games were difficult. We had to come from behind and we had to draw on all our physical and mental reserves," observed Fae, who turned 40 on the day he became coach.

"I can't properly express my joy. It is massive. I dreamed of winning the Afcon as a player and didn't manage it," added Fae, who played in the side beaten by Egypt in the 2006 final. "Now I have had the opportunity as a coach, albeit in strange circumstances. I took over when we were not even sure of getting out of our group. It was a strange birthday but thankfully we got a second chance and grabbed it."

Chris Hughton, and Rui Vitoria pay the price for poor performance

The Black Stars of Ghana and the Pharaohs of Egypt had an AFCON to forget with the former failing to come out of Group B while the latter was eliminated at the knockout stage following a penalty shootout to DR Congo.

"The Ghana Football Association wishes to announce that Chris Hughton has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the senior National team with immediate effect," read a GFA statement. "The Ghana Football Association will in the coming days provide a roadmap on the future direction of the Black Stars."

Hughton's backroom staff -- including former Aston Villa midfielder George Boateng, ex-Black Stars keeper Richard Kingston, and Didi Dramani -- have all also been let go by the federation.

Rui Vitoria was appointed coach of the Egyptian national team in 2022, succeeding Ehab Galal. He had signed a four-year deal which would have taken him through to the 2026 World Cup. But after a poor AFCON run, he was relieved of his duties. Vitoria's dismissal follows the departure of several other coaches at Afcon 2023.

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi, Gambia's Tom Saintfiet,  Tunisia's Jalel Kadri and Ivory Coast boss Jean-Louis Gasset all parted ways with their teams. The coach of Burkina Faso, Herbert Velud is also expected to leave his post when his contract expires.

Captain Fantastic Emilio Nsue

The captain of the Equatorial Guinea national team Emilio Nsue won the Puma Golden Boot Award after a brilliant performance from the 34-year-old. He was the shining amour for the Nzalang Nacional who surprisingly won Group A which contained Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau.

The striker earned the award after netting 5 goals during the competition to top the score chart. His goals were, however, not enough as Equatorial Guinea fell to Guinea 1-0 at the knockout stages.

Emilio's goals chat increased when Equatorial Guinea battled with Guinea Bissau when he scored the first hat trick of the competition in their 4-2 win. The former Apollon Limassol player became one of the oldest players in the competition to have scored 3 goals in one game in 16 years.

Logging for more goals during the competition, Emilio Nsue scored a brace in their 4-0 win against the host nation Ivory Coast which put her on a scale of if to qualify to the rounds of 16. Winning this special award from Puma, Emilio Nsue takes over Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar who won the trophy in the last AFCON with 8 goals.