Ivory Coast
Holders Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea became the latest countries to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals but did not have to kick a ball to do so, as the penultimate round of qualifiers began on Wednesday.
African champions Ivory Coast and World Cup semi-finalists Morocco both won important points in World Cup qualification on Friday but Nigeria were held at home by South Africa and are still to win a match in the 2026 preliminaries.
Ivory Coast ended almost two decades of home misery at the Africa Cup of Nations by becoming the first tournament hosts to reach the final since Egypt in 2006.
Haller's 65th-minute goal at the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium continued a remarkable recovery by the Ivorians who were almost eliminated in the group phase but will now take on Nigeria in Sunday's final.
Renard is the coach of the French women’s team and permission had been sought of the French football federation by the Ivorians to "loan" the 55-year-coach for the tournament.
Ivory Coast are hoping to have striker Sebastien Haller back from injury for their last Africa Cup of Nations group game after their coach Jean-Louis Gasset admitted they were out-muscled against Nigeria on Thursday.
After 120 minutes of intense play, the game was decided on penalties as the regular and extra times could not separate the two sides.
Douala’s Japoma Stadium is set to witness a battle for a place in the quarter-finals.
Ivory Coast has reported at least 77,857 infections and 742 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
The announcement was made by the Ethiopian Football Federation on the eve of the tournament but the Ivorians included him in their squad for the Cup of Nations anyway.
Didier Drogba drew a large crowd on Saturday eager to watch him submit his candidacy before the deadline for next month’s Ivory Coast Football Federation elections.
Gharib led the national team to U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Final for the first time in the history after Egypt defeated South Africa at the semi-finals.
A new champion will be crowned tonight as Gabon and Nigeria, who failed to advance from the group stage in this edition, won the first two titles.
Over 75,000 fans will be at the stadium on Friday night which will set a new attendance record for this competition.
The stadium gates will be open from 1:00 pm and will close at 6:30 as the closing ceremony will start one hour before the final.
Algerian newspaper "Al Shaa`b" revealed that there is a bridge will be launched between Algeria and Egypt in the coming hours to transfer Algerian fans to Suez.
AFCON quarter-finals started on Wednesday with two matches which ended by victory for Senegal & Nigeria over Benin & South Africa respectively.
Morocco are in Group D with the Ivory Coast, Namibia and South Africa.
Koffi often walks through Koumassi, to collect old mobile phones that he buys from people for 500 CFA francs ($0.8726) a pair.
Ivory Coast painter gives new life to e-waste.
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