- Côte d’Ivoire are only the second host country to lose in the group stage of a home Africa Cup of Nations in the 21st century, following Equatorial Guinea’s 1-0 defeat to Zambia in 2012.
2. Nigeria have scored at least one goal in 13 of their 14 Africa Cup of Nations group games over the last five editions in which they have participated, only failing to beat Madagascar in 2019 (2-0 defeat). At the same time, the Super Eagles have kept 8 clean sheets over this period.
3. 1.6 goals were scored on average in the games between Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, with 11 goals scored in seven matches. This is the co-lowest ratio in a match played at least as many times in the competition (1.6 – 11 goals in 7 games also for Egypt-Morocco).
4. Côte d’Ivoire have conceded a penalty goal in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2015 and a Dieumerci Mbokani strike for DR Congo. At each of the previous two editions (2019 and 2021), the Elephants conceded a penalty before being saved by their woodwork, each time against Algeria.
5. Goalscorer in the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations, Seko Fofana attempted five shots today against Nigeria, no Côte d’Ivoire player has attempted more in a single match in the competition since Opta began analysing this data (2010).
6. Victor Osimhen played 21 duels against Côte d’Ivoire, the highest tally of this Africa Cup of Nations 2023. This is the third-highest tally for a Nigeria player at an AFCON since Opta began analysing this data, behind Emmanuel Emenike (25 in 2013) and Paul Onuachu (23 in 2019).
Source: CAF