Nigeria vs South Africa live updates: How the Super Eagles won on penalties to reach Africa Cup of Nations final

Somebody had to pay the price for the Ivory Coast’s horrendous performance in the group stage of this Africa Cup of Nations.

Manager Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked after a 4-0 implosion against Equatorial Guinea, even though they ended up progressing to the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed sides and are now in the final.

Gasset, 70, is from France and has spent the bulk of his coaching career with clubs there before getting the Ivory Coast job in May 2022. So why did the Ivorians hire somebody with no prior connection to their country ahead of hosting AFCON for the first time in four decades?

Are European coaches genuinely better than African ones? Or are there other reasons why they are chosen for these posts? Dive deeper below.

A woman in a white shirt ran into the road, whipped her wig off and twirled it around in the air.

For the second knockout-phase game in a row at this Africa Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast scored a late equaliser and had to grind through an extra 30 minutes. Against Mali, the host nation had to survive it with 10 men, after Odilon Kossounou was sent off in the first half.

Glasses smashed, liquor spilled and chairs flipped when Oumar Diakite scored with seconds left of added time in extra time to prevent a second straight penalty shootout. Motorbikes flew along the road doing wheelies, chased by groups of children.

Two men walked around with a speaker blasting “Coup du marteau”, the tournament’s unofficial anthem, prompting young and old to shake their hips. Ivory Coast have been on the brink of elimination on multiple occasions at AFCON 2023 yet, somehow, they have now reached the final…

Thanks to Will Jeanes for that updated AFCON knockout stage graphic.

In the end, two of the pre-tournament favourites and heavyweights will contest the final.

But Ivory Coast are a fairly surprising finalist considering they lost 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea in the group stage!

Ivory Coast will play Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final following their 1-0 victory over DR Congo. Sebastien Haller scored the only goal of the game to book a place for his side in the last game of the tournament.

The 29-year-old had a golden opportunity to double Ivory Coast’s advantage just five minutes later, but his attempted lob went wide of the right-hand post. It is the first time since 2015 that Ivory Coast has reached the final of AFCON. They won the tournament in that year.

Ivory Coast, the host nation of AFCON, had sacked former manager Jean-Louis Gasset midway through the tournament after two consecutive group-stage losses against Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

Former Reading midfielder Emerse Fae was named interim manager and his side went on to beat 2021 winners Senegal in the last 16, as well as Mali in the quarter-finals via a last-minute winner in extra time from Oumar Diakite. The AFCON final takes place this Sunday at Alassane Ouattara Stadium.

There have been a lot of streakers on the pitch at this tournament and it has happened again.

Somebody eludes the security guards and runs straight towards the Ivory Coast players, jumping on one of them before being dragged away.

Bizarre behaviour but it shouldn’t overshadow what a tremendous moment this is for the host nation.

That’s it!

At the Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe, the same stadium the Elephants were humbled 4-0 by minnows Equatorial Guinea in the group stages, Ivory Coast’s semi-final victory is sealed.

Sebastien Haller’s volley proves the winner and the hosts are into the final!

They will face Nigeria on Sunday evening.

There is a massive round of applause for Simon Adingra as he is replaced by Jonathan Bamba.

Adingra has got this crowd excited on so many different occasions with clever pieces of skill, mazy dribbles and runs in behind.

He is still young and it will be great fun seeing what he achieves in the next few years.

Ahead of the result between Ivory Coast and DR Congo tonight – the match is, at the time of writing, around the 80-minute mark with Ivory Coast 1-0 up – here’s how the knockout stage is shaping up.

We’ll update this later…

Ivory Coast’s coaching staff have given a note to Evan Ndicka which has been passed onto Ibrahim Sangare.

Within seconds of receiving it, the referee signals for a cooling break anyways.

Nice intentions though!

This place has erupted! Haller has been struggling with an ankle injury during this tournament and this game was his first start.

He has looked sharp combining with Adingra and Kessie and what a moment as he hits a ball on the half-volley into the ground and over DR Congo’s goalkeeper.

Emerse Fae was leaping up and down on the touchline in happiness. Orange and green smoke has been let off and it’s so loud in here!

The hosts Ivory Coast are ahead, and it’s Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller with it!

His first shot on target at the tournament ends up in the back of the net.

It was a super looping cross from veteran Max Gradel, 36, from the byline.

It sailed over the defender Gedeon Kalulu’s head and Haller volleyed it acrobatically into the ground. The ball spun wickedly over goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi and nestled in the corner.

Half an hour away from the final!

Big call taking off Jean Michael Seri just after the hour mark. He has been one of Ivory Coast’s best players in their last two games.

He is very disciplined in his midfield role and makes a lot of intelligent passes.

Interestingly, Seko Fofana headed straight down the tunnel when he was replaced by Sangare.

As Jacob mentions, Nigeria have reached seven finals, winning three.

Thanks to Will Jeanes for that snazzy graphic.

I very nearly missed kick-off because I was too busy watching Nigeria beat South Africa on penalties, making it to my seat with a minute to spare.

Green smoke swirled around the pitch and the Ivory Coast and DR Congo fans were in great voice throughout the half.

This is the first time they’ve played in Abidjan, although the stadium is on the outskirts, since the group stages and you can feel the energy from the supporters who have watched their team evolve from a joke into serious contenders for the trophy

Nigeria will play the winner of Ivory Coast v DR Congo in the final in Abidjan on Sunday at 8pm GMT (3pm ET). That second semi-final takes place today (kick-off at 8pm GMT).

South Africa will face the loser of that match in the third-place play-off on Saturday at 8pm GMT.

It remains anybody’s game in Abidjan.

Ivory Coast have bossed possession but are still waiting for their first shot on target, while DR Congo look lively on the counter. 0-0 at the break.

I wonder if fans and managers will come back to that disallowed goal for DR Congo’s Cedric Bakambu…

South Africa dominated possession today and had numerous chances to break the deadlock before falling behind to Nigeria.

Their late penalty sent the game to extra time and, eventually, penalties. But they were left to rue their missed chances as they crashed out.

It means their long, long wait for a second Africa Cup of Nations win goes on. Their sole success came in 1996, when they beat Tunisia 2-0 at their home tournament.

They lost to Egypt in the next final two years later and haven’t returned to Africa’s showpiece match since.

Given Nigeria’s football pedigree it is somewhat surprising that they have only won three AFCON titles — just the fourth-most — and have only won once since 1994 (in 2013). Why? Here’s a clue.

Wednesday was Nigeria’s 15th AFCON semi-final — more than any other team — yet their record at this stage is dire. They have only won one of their past six semi-final matches, including a heartbreaking defeat to Algeria in 2019, where Riyad Mahrez’s stoppage-time free kick sentenced Nigeria to a 2-1 defeat.

Several of the Nigerian squad are veterans of that day — and amidst the pressure of such a football-obsessed nation, these things linger.

Against South Africa, Nigeria faced a psychological challenge — they appeared nicely set at 2-0 up after Osimhen seemed to double their lead, before VAR’s intervention suddenly sent them back to 1-1. In extra time, the challenge was to regroup mentally as well as stylistically.

After Osimhen missed another chance in extra time, Nigeria had reason to continue doubting. But Williams could not repeat his goalkeeping heroics in the semi-final shootout — and Kelechi Iheanacho ended a long history of semi-final heartbreak.