The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024) has come to an end, with hosts Ivory Coast emerging as champions, with the Super Eagles finishing as runner-up.
The Elephants defeated Nigeria 2-1 in an entertaining final on Sunday, February 11, following second-half goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller after William Troost-Ekong had given Nigeria an early lead.
The result means Ivory Coast have now won the AFCON three times, while Nigeria continue to wait for another taste of glory, having last won the trophy in 2013.
In all, the tournament delivered some great moments and it’s an added incentive that the prize monies for the various teams went up ahead of this year’s competition.
How much will Super Eagles earn after AFCON final?
Nigeria may have failed to win the AFCON, but the Super Eagles will be handsomely rewarded with a sum of $4 million for finishing as runners-up.
This comes after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) earlier announced a prize money of $34.6 million to be disbursed to all the 24 teams that participated in the tournament.
The continent’s football governing body made an effort to improve the remuneration of teams following a 40% increment in the prize money for the competition.
This saw the runners-up of the AFCON move from earning $2.75 million in the last tournament to taking home $4 million this year.
The share of the AFCON prize money the Super Eagles won
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast, as the winners of the AFCON, will receive a prize money of $7 million as a reward for their efforts.
The Elephants pulled off a fairytale success on home soil after being on the brink of elimination at the group stage, and needed a miracle to scrape through as one of the best four third-placed teams.
However, once they made it out of their group, they became knockout beasts, beating Senegal, Mali and DR Congo to reach the final, where they came from behind to defeat Nigeria on Sunday.
But back to CAF’s prize money for AFCON 2024, the teams who finished at the bottom of their groups will receive $500,000 each.
Those who reached the round of 16 will get $800,000; quarter-finalists will be compensated with $1.3 million while semi-finalists will also earn $2.5 million.
