English 
High-odds betting on the Nigeria-Ivory Coast final
This scenario, which is also supported by history, would fit perfectly into the fairy-tale march of the home team.
Anyone who followed the events of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations will not regret it, as the tournament was accompanied by excitement not seen in a long time. Most of the headlines were taken by the host, which last hosted the announcement 40 years ago and this year brought itself back from the grave several times. However, the three-time winner Nigeria is the favorite for the final success, but there is no big difference in the odds.
Team news
As we already wrote in the introduction, the Ivory Coast had quite an adventurous journey until the final clash. The host had a great start to the tournament, but the first victory was immediately followed by two ugly defeats, and they went on to finish third, having fired their head coach in the process.
Emerse Fae, who stepped in as an emergency solution, immediately found himself facing the defending champions, Senegal, which his team overcame in a penalty shootout, and in the next round, with a man disadvantage, they only managed to advance in overtime. In the semi-finals, Congo was defeated by the goal of Haller, who also overcame testicular cancer, and the country already believes as one person that fate will fly the team to the final success this year.
In the final, they will face Nigeria, who have already defeated the Elephants in the group stage, but the last time they were able to defeat the same opponent twice was in 2006 within an AFCON.
On the face of it, the Osimhen and co’s path to the finals was significantly smoother, where they got to the final by conceding only one goal in the straight elimination stage. In the semi-finals, they were forced to a penalty shootout against South Africa, but they have won 6/4 matches in the tournament so far. Based on the results, Nigeria may seem stronger, but the final is a completely different genre and the fact that it has already lost four times in the final match, most recently in 2020, may haunt the team.
Opta‘s super computer predicts a 56.2 percent chance of victory for the Super Eagles based on more than 10,000 simulations, but we are not betting on them. It is interesting that in the Africa Cup, being the host country is not considered a particularly big advantage, since the last time the host country reached the final was in 2006. Then Egypt accomplished the feat and beat Ivory Coast in the final, after a 0-0 draw, in a penalty shootout.
The Elephants are well aware of this scenario, as they have appeared in four finals so far (they won twice previously – 1992, 2015), and all four times the decisive match was decided by a penalty shoot-out after 0-0. The under is almost coded in this match (also), so even one goal can be decisive, and we prefer to see value in the home team, who are also pressed by the fanatical crowd. Nigeria is burdened by the odds, while Haller and co literally came back from the grave several times, and we think they can achieve the final success with another penalty shootout.
✅ Tip #1: Ivory Coast to win the trophy @1.95
✅ Tip #1: Ivory Coast to win on penalties @8.50
deadline: February 11, 9:00 p.m
