After being dumped out of the competition at the Round of 16 stage the year prior, the Ivory Coast entered the Africa Cup of Nations determined to impress on home soil.
Despite securing an automatic berth as hosts, the Ivory Coast were placed in qualification Group H ahead of the tournament as they looked to accrue competitive experience in the lead-up to the finals.
Their preliminary campaign proved suitably straightforward, though a draw with minnows Comoros and defeat away at Zambia meant the team were forced to settle for second place.
A couple shaky results notwithstanding, confidence remained high that Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset could lead Les Elephants to continental victory for the first time since 2015.
When the tournament subsequently got underway their campaign started promisingly enough, with goals from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso enough to claim a comfortable victory against Guinea-Bissau on the opening day.
From there however, cracks began to show.
A 1-0 defeat to pre-tournament favourites Nigeria followed, but the worst was yet to come as the hosts were subjected to a humiliating 4-0 trashing by Equatorial Guinea, the heaviest home loss in the country's history.
Their qualification for the knockout stage was only secured when Morocco defeated Zambia later that day to allow them a spot as one of the best third-placed teams.
The reprieve appeared to represent little more than a stay of execution with a round of 16 clash against defending champions Senegal awaiting them.
Knockout stage run
Just nine days after their AFCON campaign began, Ivory Coast now faced the prospect of becoming the first host nation to be dumped out on home soil since they themselves suffered the fate in 1984.
With a decisive showdown awaiting them, the Ivorian Football Federation opted to bring the hammer down on Gasset, sacking him and his assistant Ghislain Printant, citing "insufficient results".
Emerse Fae, one of Gasset's staff, elevated to head coach on an interim basis and given the unenviable task of taking on a Senegal side that had won every game to that point with the likes of Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr, and Iliman Ndiaye all scoring in their run to the knockout stages.
Fae's maiden game in charge of country could hardly have got off to a worse start as Habib Diallo opened the scoring after just four minutes. With the game entering the closing stages Franck Kessie equalised from the spot before the hosts advanced to the quarter-finals on penalties.
On paper, Mali in the next round represented an easier fixture but the hosts were reduced to ten men in the first half when Odilon Kossounou received a second yellow card. Dorgeles Nene then gave Mali the lead after the interval and a historic upset appeared to be on the cards.
Once again however, the Ivorians' determination shined through, and Simon Adingra netted at the death to send the game to stoppage time. Late drama was becoming a theme at this point, and Oumar Diakite flicked home a dramatic winner at the end of an additional 30 minutes to send his country through to the last four.
After successive heart-stopping performances, discipline would be the order of the day for the hosts at the semi-final stage.
During a tense encounter Ivory Coast held firm against DR Congo, with Sebastien Haller's strike just after the hour marking not only seminal moment for the ex-West Ham star following his recovery from testicular cancer, but ultimately proving to be the difference between the two sides.
Africa Cup of Nations Final
Haller's strike ensured that Ivory Coast had booked their place in a continental final for the first time in nearly a decade.
In order to go all the way on home soil however, Les Elephants would need to vanquish their demons from the group stage as they were once again pitted against Nigeria.
With a baying crowd packing the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the Ivorian city of Abidjan to capacity, the hosts started brightly but struggled to make good on their chances.
Throughout the tournament local media had rechristened Fae's side as the 'Zombie Elephants' for their ability to battle back from adversity and they were once again chasing an equaliser when William Troost-Ekong headed home from a corner to give Nigeria late in the first half.
The momentum swung back in the hosts' favour after the restart and Franck Kessie got on the end of an Adingra corner to level the scoreline just after the hour mark.
As the game entered the final ten minutes of regular time it was again Haller who stepped up at the crucial moment, edging in front of Troost-Ekong to flick home from close range and send the stadium into pandemonium and secure his country's third AFCON title.
