Osimhen’s Nigeria and hosts Ivory Coast ready for AFCON final

Ivory Coast, meanwhile, will match Nigeria on three titles if they emerge victorious at the Cup of Nations for the first time since 2015.

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.

The shellshocked Ivorians parted company with coach Jean-Louis Gasset, all hope of reaching the last 16 apparently gone, before being rescued as a series of favourable results elsewhere allowed them to go through among the best third-placed sides.

Under interim coach Emerse Fae, their revival has been quite incredible.

Ivory Coast eliminated holders Senegal on penalties in capital Yamoussoukro in the last 16, then came from behind — despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half — to beat Mali 2-1 in Bouake in the quarter-finals, with a winner right at the end of extra time.

They then returned to Ebimpe to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo in the semis thanks to a solitary Sebastien Haller strike.