Nigeria v Ivory Coast Betting Tips [12 February 2024]

The 2023 African Cup of Nations final is here, and Ivory Coast will battle Nigeria for the continent’s biggest prize. This will be the eighth time the two nations meet in an AFCON game and the first at a final. They have already battled each other in this year’s edition in the group stages. Nigeria won that closely fought match 1-0 and will fancy their chances to do it again. The Super Eagles have defeated Ivory Coast three times at the AFCON prior to this year’s edition. On each occasion, they have gone on to win the tournament. The three-time African champions will hope that this year’s showpiece is not the exception. Jose Peseiro’s men have dominated on their way to a first final since 2013. They haven’t lost any of their six matches and have won their last five. The West African nation advanced to the final at the expense of South Africa who they defeated on penalties in the semifinals. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time. Nigeria have kept four clean sheets and only one of the two goals they have conceded has come from open play.

Ivory Coast are back to yet another AFCON final, their fifth and they will be seeking to tie Nigeria on three wins each. The Elephants have come back from the dead so to say as they had a disastrous group stage campaign. They won just one of their group games and lost twice. This forced the resignation of French tactician Jean Louis-Gasset with assistant Emerse Fae taking over on an interim basis. In the knockout rounds, the West African nation, has looked like a whole different team. They defeated DR Congo 1-0 to reach the final. Ivory Coast’s first two knockout rounds required penalties to decide. The Elephants have defeated Nigeria twice at an AFCON. This was in back-to-back tournaments in 2006 and 2008 and both games ended 1-0.

Our prediction for Nigeria v Ivory Coast is for under 2.5 goals to be scored in the match. Nigeria haven’t been the most dominant attacking team at the AFCON but have been the most dominant defensively. They have kept four clean sheets and have conceded just twice in six games. With Ivory Coast showing inconsistencies in attack throughout the tournament, this is likely to be a low-scoring final. Their group stage encounter did produce one goal after all.