The 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations is about to come to an explosive end as the Super Eagles of Nigeria get ready to face the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire in the final on Sunday, February 11.

The tournament hosts Cote d’Ivoire secured their spot in the final on Wednesday night after overcoming the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1-0.

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles progressed to the semi-finals after defeating South Africa 4-2 in an exciting penalty shootout.

Here are twelve things to know about the AFCON final:

1. The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 11, 2024, with the match scheduled to kick off at 9 pm Nigerian time.

2. The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final will be held at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, known also as the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe.

3. The stadium has a seating capacity of 60,000, it is the largest stadium in the country.

4. The clash will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Ultra HDR, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport Website in the UK.

5. Nigeria beat Ivory coast en route to two of their three Africa Cup of Nations (1994, 2013)

6. The winners of the competition will win a cash prize of $7m (N9bn).

7. The second place will win a cash prize of $4m.

8. Nigeria have only conceded two goals the entire competition, while Cote d’Ivoire’s defence has been leaking, shipping eight goals in six games.

9. Nigeria and Ivory Coast played in the same group, and this final will be one of the few times teams from the same group faced in the final.

10. Ivory Coast are the first host nation to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final since Egypt in 2006.

11. Nigeria are playing in their eighth AFCON final, only Egypt and Ghana (both 9) have played in more such games in the competition.

12. All four of Ivory Coast’s previous Africa Cup of Nations finals have ended goalless and gone to penalties – they won two of those shootouts (1992 and 2015, both vs Ghana) and lost two (2006 vs Egypt and 2012 vs Zambia).

Kenyan’s Bernard Sang has emerged winner of the Access Bank  2024 Lagos City Marathon.

Sang beat about 80 other elite marathoners in the 9th edition of the race on Saturday morning to win the 42km race.

He won the grand prize of $50,000.

The Kenyan finished at 2 hours, 16 minutes, and 49 seconds to best compatriots Simon Cheprot and Edwin Kiptoo, who finished second and third, respectively and will go home with $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Sang, who also participated in 2023, finished in third place.

Twenty-five-year-old Kebene Chala of Ethiopia was the first woman to cross the finish line.

She will also be claiming $50,000.

The winners of the men’s and women’s races qualified for the marathon event at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Shehu Muazu was the first Nigerian to cross the finish line and will be going home with a N1 million cash prize.

The 42km race began at the National Stadium in Surulere and ended at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island.

Ahead of Sunday’s AFCON final clash against Ivory Coast billed for the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé in Abidjan, Super Eagles Captain Ahmed Musa says the team will do everything possible to win the title especially for Nigerians who lost their lives watching the tensed semifinal clash against South Africa on Wednesday.

Players and officials of the Jose Peseiro tutored side held a one minute silence in honour of some Nigerians who died during the semifinal clash that dragged to extra time before ending in penalties that saw the Eagles triumph 4-2 in Bouake.

Among those who died are former House of Representative member (2003 – 2007) Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, Deputy Bursar at Kwara State University, Ayuba Abdullahi, Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Auto Promotion, Osondu Nwoye, and a National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) member identified as Samuel who hails from Kaduna State but serving in Numan Adamawa State.

Speaking on the tragic incidents, Eagles Captain Ahmed Musa said:“Good evening everyone, yesterday (Wednesday) we lost four Nigerians because of the game (against South Africa). So we will hold a one minute silence and Chidozie Awaziem will lead us in prayers.“

Musa who has been very motivational for the Super Eagles since the tournament began has continued to call for massive support for the team as their quest to lift the AFCON title for the fourth time. Nigeria already have three titles in the kitty won in 1980, 1994 and 2013. The victory in 2013 was the last won under late Stephen Keshi in South Africa after Nigeria defeated Burkina Faso by a lone goal in front of 85,000 spectators at the FNB Stadium, Johannesburg.

On Sunday, the 34^th final match of the Africa Cup of Nations will hold in Abidjan. Here are the statistical synopsis of the past 33 final matches.

• Egypt: 10(Won seven in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008 & 2010; Lost three in 1962, 2017 & 2021)

• Ghana: 9 (Won in four 1963, 1965, 1978 & 1982; Lost five in 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010 & 2015)

• Cameroon: 7(Won five in 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 & 2017; Lost two in 1986 & 2008)

• Nigeria: 7(Won three in 1980, 1994 & 2013; Lost four in 1984, 1988, 1990 & 2000)

Playing 8^th Final on Sunday

• Cote d’Ivoire:  4 (Won twice in 1992 & 2015; Lost twice in 2006 & 2012)

. Playing 5^th Final on Sunday

• Algeria:  3 (Won twice in 1990 & 2019; Lost once in 1980)

• Zambia: 3 (Won once in 2012; Lost twice in 1974 & 1994)

• Tunisia: 3(Won once in 2004; Lost twice in 1965 & 1996)

• Senegal: 3 (Won once in 2021; Lost in twice in 2002 & 2019)

CAF has launched the official poster for the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Final.

The final between host Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria will take place on Sunday, 11 February 2024, at Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Ebimpe, at 20HOO local time.

Les Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire are two-time winners of the competition – 1992 and 2015, whilst Nigeria’s Super Falcons have three titles to their name – 1980, 1994 and 2013.

D’Tigress will be in Paris as they punched their ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games despite their defeat to the USA on Friday.

Despite suffering a heavy 100-48 defeat to the USA on Friday, Nigeria’s national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have secured qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

This achievement came as a result of Senegal’s loss to hosts Belgium later that same evening, coupled with Nigeria’s victory over Senegal on Thursday.

With the USA already securing their Olympic berth as reigning world champions, the Antwerp qualification series aimed to allocate two additional spots from the four participating teams. According to the FIBA website, “The tournaments in Antwerp, Belgium and Xi’an, China, will determine the qualification of the two highest-ranked teams, excluding USA and France.”

D’Tigress’ critical comeback victory against Senegal proved pivotal, particularly after Senegal’s subsequent defeat to Belgium. The team’s official X (formerly Twitter) page announced, “Nigeria have clinched qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics and secured back-to-back appearances at the showpiece event, having also featured last time at Tokyo 2020.”

Coach Rena Wakama and Elizabeth Balogun addressed the team’s slow start against the USA, which led to the significant loss. “I challenge my girls every day to play with urgency and fire; I think we lacked that from the start, and this is the wrong opponent to lack that,” Wakama explained.

Despite attempts to rectify the situation in the second half, Wakama admitted that “at that point, it was too late.”

Meanwhile, the FIBA Olympics Women qualifiers continue in Sopron, Hungary, where Canada, Japan, Hungary, and Spain are vying for three slots; in Belem, Brazil, where Australia, Brazil, Germany, and Serbia compete for three tickets; and in Xi’an, China, where China, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico are battling for two spots.

With France (hosts), the USA (world champions), Belgium, and now Nigeria already qualified, D’Tigress aim to improve on their 11th place finish at the 2020 Olympic Games under Coach Wakama’s leadership in France.