Thousands of football fans wearing orange and white have flooded the streets of Abidjan to see the Ivory Coast team parade the Africa Cup of Nations trophy they won on Sunday.
The hosts defeated Nigeria 2-1 to win Afcon for a third time, prompting huge celebrations across the country.
Ivory Coast were unlikely winners. They lost two group games and fired their manager mid-tournament. Emerse Fae, a youth-team manager, took over for his first job leading a senior team.
Four games later, he was lifting a trophy.
The parade began at Hôtel Palmier and the crowd built slowly from around midday, becoming more boisterous as the parade’s scheduled start time approached.
The banners on the truck announced the Elephants as “Champions of Africa 2023” and featured three stars, a nod to the fact that the team has now won this competition on three occasions.
Ivory Coast’s tale of triumph was made even better as the goal that clinched the trophy for the team was scored by Sébastien Haller, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer a few months ago.
Fans around the world are already dubbing Ivory Coast’s win one of the greatest turnaround in football tournament history.
