US$7m for AFCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023 winners; US$4m for runners-up

* US$1.3 million for the four quarter-finalists while the Round of 16 losers will get US$800,000

* The quarterfinalists are Nigeria vs Angola; DR Congo vs Guinea; hosts Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde

* Two more to be identified tonight — Mali vs Burkina Faso & Morocco vs South Africa

Maravi Express

The champions for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 winners will receive a whopping US$7 million while the runners-up are set to earn US$4 million.

A statement from Confederation of African Football (CAF) furthers says the two semifinalists shall each receive US$2.5 million; the four quarter-finalists US$1.3 million while the Round of 16 losers — Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Mauritania, Senegal and either of those yet to play; Mali vs Burkina Faso & Morocco vs South Africa — will get US$800,000.

Two teams ranked 3rd in their group but failed to qualify for the Round of 16 earn US$700,000 and those that finished 4th in each of the 6 groups earn US$500,000.

Teams that have qualified for the quarterfinals are Nigeria vs Angola; DR Congo vs Guinea; hosts Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde, whose opponents will be identified tonight — Mali vs Burkina Faso & Morocco vs South Africa.

Meanwhile, Côte d’Ivoire caretaker coach Emerse Fae — who replaced fired Jean-Louis Gasset for poor performance in the group stages — says they will not sit on the laurels following their excellent performance in their Round of 16 in which they beat defending champions and favorites,Senegal 5-4 on post match penalties last night.

The result capped a remarkable turnaround for the Elephants after a disastrous group stage saw them suffer two defeats, including a humiliating 0-4 loss to Equatorial Guinea.

“We had a difficult start, conceding an early goal, but I told the players at halftime to keep playing the same way, not get confused,” Fae told CAFonline.

Unlike under fired Jean-Louis Gasset, Fae took full responsibility for tactical decisions during the match: “It was my decision on what needed to be done. With Gasset, I would give an opinion and he would make the decision.”

The interim boss admitted he was under intense pressure before the Senegal showdown: “There was a lot of pressure before the match, and match day was too long for me. I couldn’t nap as usual, thinking about all scenarios. If I said there was no pressure, I would be lying.”

Fae added that qualifying into the Round of 16 after Morocco gave them confidence and boosted their belief before facing the defending champions and with a place now booked in the quarter-finals, the coach stressed the team cannot get carried away by this result as tougher tests lie ahead.

“We must not stop here — we must continue working, maintain this morale, and keep playing match by match,” said Fae and after inspiring a remarkable reversal in fortunes, he seems determined to ensure this giant-killing act is just the start as the Elephants seek further AFCON glory.

Côte d’Ivoire Football Federation had attempted to appoint former coach, Herve Renard to replace Gasset to guide the remainder of the tournament after the French Football Federation (FFF) refused to release him.

The FFF indicated that they were not willing to loan the 55-year-old, who is currently the coach of the France women’s team, whose contract goes through to the end of this year’s Paris Olympics, and Les Bleues also have a UEFA Nations League semifinal to play against Germany in Lyon on February 23.

Renard enjoys great popularity in Côte d’Ivoire after leading the team to the 2015 African title. He also won the competition with Zambia in 2012 and has also coached Morocco and Angola.—Additional reporting by CAFonline