Key events
90 min Saying which, Iheanacho plays a give-and-go on the edge of the area and has a shot very well blocked by Ndicka. Ivory Coast break and Aina is booked for pulling back Adingra.
89 min Nigeria look all out of ideas. In truth they didn’t have many in the first place. There’s no doubt Ivory Coast deserve to win based on the first 89 minutes.
87 min: Ivory Coast substitution Jean-Philippe Krasso and Ibrahim Sangare come on for Fofana, who is booked for taking too long to leave the field, and the potential hero Haller.
86 min: Double substitution for Nigeria Joe Aribo and Terem Moffi come on for Frank Onyeka and Zaidu Sanusi.
84 min Simon wins a corner for Nigeria, which leads to another. That leads to nothing.
Eighteen months ago, Sebastien Haller was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He scored the winner in the semi-final and now he’s minutes away from scoring the winner in the final.
Haller is celebrating, though it might be an own goal from Troost-Ekong. The outstanding Adingra beat Aina yet again on the left and hammered a superb cross towards the near post. Haller got across Troost-Ekong and improvised ingeniously, lifting his leg well above waist height to stud the ball into the far corner.
His celebration was quite muted, which made me think it was possible an own goal. Was it hell: it was a fantastic goal!
GOAL! Nigeria 1-2 Ivory Coast (Haller 81)
Ivory Coast are nine minutes from glory!
79 min: Double substitution for Nigeria Alhassan Yusuf and Kelechi Iheanacho come on for Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman.
77 min Fofana wins a header and flattens Osimhen in the process, with both men staying down. I thought Osimhen was caught by Fofana’s arm but he’s holding his leg so he may have landed awkwardly.
74 min: Haller goes close! Och, that would have been a glorious goal. A chipped cross from the right was headed back across goal by Adingra towards Haller, who launched into an elegant overhead kick that flashed wide of the near post. It looked really close when we saw it live, but replays show it was actually a few yards wide.
73 min At the moment Nigeria look like a team who sat on a 1-0 lead far too early and now can’t change gear.
71 min Adingra looks dangerous every time he gets the chance to run at Aina, and it’s no surprise Ivory Coast are giving the ball to him at every opportunity.
69 min: Double substitution for Ivory Coast Oumar Diakite and Wilfried Singo replace the captain Serge Aurier and Max-Alain Gradel, who had just been given the armband by Aurier when his number went up. No idea who has it now.
68 min: Chance for Troost-Ekong! Lookman’s free-kick dips towards Troost-Ekong, who is fractionally ahead of the ball and heads over as a result.
68 min Nigeria have started to attack again since the equaliser. Lookman cuts inside Aurier, 25 yards from goal, and is taken down.
65 min Ivory Coast, who are aiming for their Afcon title, have just scored their first goal in an Afcon final.
(To explain. All four of their previous finals went penalties after a goalless draw: wins in 1992 and 2015 and defeats in 2006 and 2012.)
Adingra’s booming deep corner tempted Nwabali from his line. He didn’t get there and could only push Kessie’s downward header into the net as he tried to recover his ground.
GOAL! Nigeria 1-1 Ivory Coast (Kessie 64)
Franck Kessie has equalised!
62 min Make that 2-13. The centre-half Kossounou strides forward and cracks an excellent low drive from 25 yards that is pushed behind by the diving Nwabali.
61 min Attempts at goal: Nigeria 2-12 Ivory Coast.
60 min Bassey dithers on the edge of his own area and is robbed. Fofana plays the ball to Adingra, who cuts inside a defender in the area and flips a cross towards the far post. Fofana dives across Zaidu but heads straight at Nwabali. That was a difficult header: no pace on the ball and, unlike Troost-Ekong, he was diving sideways rather than jumping towards goal on the run.
58 min Seri pings well wide from distance. Ivory Coast are dominating the ball without really teasting Nwabali.
56 min: Nigeria substitution Moses Simon replaces Samuel Chukwueze, who had a quiet game but did provide the flick-on that led to Troost-Ekong’s goal. At least I think he did; there were a lot of players jumping for the ball at the near post.
55 min There’s no suggestion VAR is going to get involved. That’s fair enough – I don’t think you can call it a clear and obvious error.
54 min Aurier and Nwabali are booked after having a row over that penalty appeal.
52 min: Ivory Coast penalty appeal The lively Gradel chops inside Zaidu right on the edge of the area and goes down. The referee says no penalty but it will be checked by VAR. This is a tricky one – he was kicked in the shin just outside the area, then stumbled over Zaidu’s foot in the area. I don’t think it will be overturned.
50 min: Great block by Bassey! The resulting free-kick is only half cleared and Ivory Coast come again. Adingra scorches past Aina and hammers a low cross that is pushed away by the diving Nwabali. Gradel runs onto the loose ball, 12 yards out, and crashes a shot that is desperately blocked by Bassey in the six-yard line.
Replays show that Bassey closed his legs just enough to take the sting out of the shot, which dribbled between his legs and was grabbed on the line by Nwabali.
49 min Gradel is fouled just outside the area on the right by Zaidu, who got the ball but went through Gradel to get there.
47 min Osimhen, scrapping alone as he has all night, is fouled by Ndicka in the centre circle. He’s so good at making something out of any old filth that is booted up to him. If the scores stays like this, there will be plenty of that in the second half.
46 min Peep peep! Ivory Coast begin the second half, hoping/aiming/praying to come from behind for the third time in the knockout stages.
More on the subject of funky boots
Geoff Wignall “I’m not clear on what counts as funky footwear and I’m sure Alan Ball’s white boots weren’t described as such 50 plus years ago; but they did attract comment – not all of it complimentary.”
Kim Thonger “George Best’s side-laced boots were literally groundbreaking. I did child labour overtime to earn my pair.”
Half-time (and possibly post-match) entertainment
Half time: Nigeria 1-0 Ivory Coast
For the umpteenth time in the tournament, the hosts Ivory Coast have an uncomfortably good view from the precipice. They played the better football in a poor first half, but didn’t create any clear chances and went behind to a carpe diem header from the Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong.
45+4 min A wobbling long-range drive from Fofana is calmly dealt with by Nwabali.
45+1 min Iwobi tries to release the marauding Zaidu, who is cynically flattened off the ball by the flailing arm of Seri. That should have been at least a free-kick, probably a yellow card and maybe even a red. The referee missed it.
45 min Osimhen is receiving treatment after an awkward landing. He’s okay to continue, at least until half-time. There are four minutes of added time.
44 min Haller’s through pass is too heavy for Kessie. Ivory Coast have been much the better team between the boxes, but that counts for nothing when the coast is toast. (As things stand.)
43 min “I think Stylo Matchmakers were the original flashy football boots, famously worn by both George Best and Pelé,” says Kári Tulinius. “But according to the Stylo Matchmakers website, the first player to endorse the brand was Celtic and Leeds legend Bobby Collins.”
