Hosts Cote d’Ivoire came from behind to defeat pre-final favourites Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Troost-Ekong’s first half header was cancelled out by Frank Kessie’s equalizer and a late winning flick by Sebastian Haller.

The result wasn’t a surprise to everyone that watched the game because the hosts were all over the Super Eagles. Simon Adingra was a torn in the flesh as he provided the 2 assists to give the Elephants the win.

Despite losing 2 of their group matches, Cote d’Ivoire progressed to the round of 16 as the 4th best 3rd-placed team in the group stages. They made managerial changes within the tournament and reaped the fruit with the trophy.

From a Nigerian perspective, the Super Eagles exceeded expectations. The pre-AFCON results were not encouraging and the average fan had low expectations from Abidjan but Jose Peseiro found a formular that made the Eagles a defensive side – avoiding defeat until the final where the team was visible tired and knackered. Could the Eagles have won the final if the coach rotated more? Could we even have gotten to the final if he rotated?

The “discovery” of Stanley Nwabali should be Nigeria’s biggest gain from the AFCON. Excluding the local league fans, over 90% of Nigerians didn’t know about Stanley Nwabali before the tournament. Nigerians just wanted a goalkeeper that is better than Francis Uzoho and they are satisfied with Nwabali’s display in Cote d’Ivoire. Shame that he missed out on the best goalkeeper award because of the 2 goals conceded in the final.

Troost-Ekong, Ola Aina and Ademola Lookman made the CAF XI. There stood out in the competition alongside Stanley Nwabali. The trio switched nationality to Nigeria after previous appearances for the youth sides of European countries.

Is this end of Ahmed Musa’s Super Eagles appearances? He didn’t feature on the pitch for the Eagles in the tournament but led the team to receive national awards from the presidency.

What next for the Super Eagles – the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.