Ivory Coast book Nigeria showdown in AFCON final | OneFootball

The 2024 AFCON final matchup has been set in stone after Nigeria and the Ivory Coast won their respective semi-finals.

Ivory Coast scrape past DR Congo

Scorers: Haller 65′

It was all Ivory Coast throughout most of the clash, the the visitors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo remained stubborn in the face of waves of pressure.

They were finally broken down when Sébastien Haller struck past the hour mark to set the stadium alight with celebration and give the hosts the lead.

Despite a late fight-back, the hosts held on to see out the result and earn a chance to win the tournament in front of their home fans against Nigeria this weekend.

Nigeria down South Africa on penalties

Scorers: Troost-Ekong (P) 67′ ; Mokoena 90′

It was a surprisingly tight first half, as both teams had spells of possession combined with flurries of scoring chances, but the run of play began to lean towards Nigeria as the 45 minutes wore on.

It took until past the hour mark for the game to be blown open when Victor Osimhen was taken down in the box after a slaloming run through the South African defence.

The subsequent spot-kick was coolly dispatched by Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong to give the Super Eagles the lead, but the drama was only getting started.

With just five minutes to go, Victor Osimhen appeared to put Nigeria two in front when the Napoli man scored on the break. But the goal was chalked off after a VAR check, and South Africa were given a penalty at the other end for a challenge on Percy Tau.

Teboho Mokoena stepped up in the 90th minute to fire his penalty attempt into the back of the net and send the affair into extra-time.

Grant Kekana was sent off for South Africa in the dying minutes of extra-time when the defender took down a Nigerian player with a last-ditch tackle to add to the drama.

Unfortunately for South Africa, Ronwen Williams could not replicate his quarter-final heroics in the penalty shootout, as Nigeria booked their spot in their eighth AFCON final after winning 4-2 on penalties.