MATCH STATS: Gabon vs Côte d’Ivoire – TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Group F
Gabon will round off their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 campaign with a final Group F fixture against defending champions Côte d’Ivoire at the Grand Stade de Marrakech on 31 December. Kick-off is at 20h00 local time (19h00 GMT).
Gabon are already eliminated from the competition, while Côte d’Ivoire require at least a draw to secure progression to the knockout stages.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The two teams have met 18 times previously across all competitions. Côte d’Ivoire hold the clear edge with 10 wins, while Gabon have four victories and there have been four draws.
They have met in AFCON qualifying for the 1972 and 2008 tournaments. Across those four games, Gabon failed to record a win, with Côte d’Ivoire claiming four victories along with one draw.
Their most recent meetings came in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Côte d’Ivoire won the first match 1-0 in Korhogo on 7 June 2024, with Seko Fofana scoring the winning goal in the 36th minute. The return fixture ended goalless on 9 September 2025 in Franceville. Côte d’Ivoire qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Gabon advanced to a continental play-off tournament, where they ultimately failed to qualify.
Côte d’Ivoire’s biggest victory in the fixture was a 5-0 win in 2008 AFCON qualifying on 7 October 2006 in Abidjan. Arouna Koné scored a hat-trick, with Kolo Touré and Aruna Dindane adding the other goals.
All four of Gabon’s wins in the fixture have been by a single-goal margin, while all four draws between the sides have ended 0-0.
PAST MEETINGS
OVERALL
Gabon: P18 W4 D4 L10 GF10 GA29 GD-19
Côte d’Ivoire: P18 W10 D4 L4 GF29 GA10 GD+19
Gabon – Key Statistics
· Are eliminated after defeats to Cameroon and Mozambique.
· This is their sixth group-stage elimination in nine AFCON appearances.
· Have also exited at the group stage in 1994, 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2017.
· Have progressed beyond the group stage just once in their last four AFCON appearances, in 2021.
· Conceded three goals against Mozambique, the first time they have conceded three in an AFCON match since a 3-1 loss to Algeria in their second group game in 2000.
· Have won just one of their last 11 AFCON matches (D6 L4), having won four of the previous five (D1).
· Are now five games without a win at AFCON, with their last victory coming against Comoros in their opening match in 2021 (D3 L2).
· Have begun an AFCON campaign with successive defeats for the first time since 2000, when they lost to South Africa and Algeria.
· Have never lost all three group matches at a single AFCON edition; in 1994 they lost both group games, with only three teams per group at that tournament.
· Should they lose, they will finish an AFCON campaign without a point for only the second time, after 1994.
· Should they fail to win, it will be the fourth time they have exited without a victory, along with 1994, 2000 and 2017.
· Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his seventh AFCON goal against Mozambique, the most by a Gabonese player at the tournament.
· Aubameyang became the 14th Marseille player to score at AFCON since 1992, with only ES Tunis having produced more different goalscorers (19).
· At 36 years and 193 days, Aubameyang became the second-oldest player to score at AFCON since Hossam Hassan (39 years, 177 days) for Egypt against DR Congo in 2006.
· Gabon won the first four AFCON matches in which Aubameyang scored, but have failed to win the last three (D2 L1).
· Defeat to Mozambique was the first time Aubameyang scored in an AFCON match that Gabon went on to lose (previously W4 D2).
Côte d’Ivoire – Key Statistics
· Began the tournament with a win against Mozambique, followed by a 1-1 draw against Cameroon.
· Failed once again to defeat Cameroon at AFCON, having won just one of nine meetings in open play. Their 11% win rate against Cameroon is the second lowest against any opponent they have faced at least twice, with only Egypt lower at 9%.
· Victory over Mozambique was their 49th win at AFCON; another win would make them the fourth nation to reach 50, after Egypt (61), Nigeria (60) and Ghana (54).
· Have scored in their last six AFCON matches, last failing to score in their final group game against Equatorial Guinea in 2023.
· Emerse Faé remains unbeaten as Côte d’Ivoire coach at AFCON (W3 D2).
· Côte d’Ivoire have scored in all five AFCON matches under Faé.
· Progression would see them reach the knockout rounds for a third successive tournament.
· Their last group-stage exit came in 2017.
· Reaching the next round would mark a 17th overall progression beyond the group stage.
· Since 2006, they have been eliminated at the group stage just once in 10 tournament appearances, in 2017.
· Their record in final group matches stands at P25 W11 D4 L9.
· Their last 14 final group games have produced goals; they were last involved in a 0-0 draw in a final group game in 1994 against Congo.
· Have twice featured in seven-goal final group matches: a 6-1 win over Ethiopia in 1970 and a 5-2 victory over Angola in 1998.
· Lost their final group match in 2023, a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, their heaviest loss at AFCON.
· Amad Diallo has scored in Côte d’Ivoire’s opening two matches and is the second Ivorian, across successive tournaments, to score in successive games, after Sébastien Haller in the 2023 semi-final and final.
· Diallo is the first Ivorian to score in the opening two group matches at AFCON since Yaya Touré and Gervinho in 2013.
· A goal would make Diallo the first Ivorian to score in all three group matches at a single AFCON edition.
· Côte d’Ivoire have scored 11 goals from outside the box at AFCON since 2010, more than any other nation.
· They attempted 13 shots against Cameroon, with only two on target.