THE Lusail Stadium and the Alassane Ouattara Stadium – the largest football venues in Qatar and Ivory Coast respectively, and separated by a distance of nearly 10,000 km – will be where the new champions of Asia and Africa will be crowned this weekend.

The Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations both kicked off four weeks ago with 24 teams each. Forty-four of them have gone home and it’s now time to find out who will be the top dogs of these football-mad regions.

Jordan vs Qatar (Sat 11pm kickoff, Singapore time)

The Asian Cup has been chock-full of dramatic late goals and stunning upsets, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen next when defending champions and hosts Qatar take on surprise finalists Jordan.

They will lock horns at the 88,000-seater Lusail Stadium, a majestic arena 20 km north of the capital Doha and where Argentina defeated France in arguably the most entertaining World Cup final of all time just 14 months ago.

One would have been hard-pressed to find any pundit or fan who could have predicted an Asian Cup final between Qatar – a team that appointed its current manager only in December – and a Jordan side ranked a lowly 87th in the world.

Jordan are hoping for the perfect ending to their fairytale run, having outplayed favourites South Korea in the semi-final. Under Moroccan coach Hussein Ammouta, Jordan have made a mockery of their Fifa world ranking over the past month.

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They drew with South Korea in the group stage and made it to the knockout stage by virtue of being one of the best third-placed sides. They netted twice in stoppage time to eliminate Iraq in the Round of 16, edged Tajikistan 1-0 in the quarter-finals, and ousted a star-studded South Korea side led by Son Heung-min on Tuesday (Feb 6).

Qatar are the bookies’ favourites to lift the trophy, and coach Tintin Marquez – who was brought in less than four weeks before the competition – knows the weight of an entire nation rests on his team.

Still smarting from the embarrassment of being the first World Cup hosts to lose all three group matches, Qatar are bent on seeking redemption and defending the Asian Cup title they won for the first time in 2019.

To do so, they will need their two most dangerous attackers, Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, to turn on the style once again on Saturday. Ali bagged the winning goal against Iran in the semi-final while Afif is a contender to be the tournament’s best player with five goals in six games so far.

Jordan have some aces up their sleeves too in the form of Yazan Al-Naimat and Mousa Al-Tamari, the latter making the headlines on Wednesday as he scored a glorious goal to send the South Koreans home.

The ingredients are there for what is fast shaping up to be a tantalising final that’s certain to have a few twists along the way.

Nigeria vs Ivory Coast (Mon 4 am)

When Ivory Coast lost two of three group games at the Africa Cup of Nations, including a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, the tournament hosts were seemingly dead and buried. Their French coach Jean-Louis Gasset was booted out and in stepped Emerse Fae, a 40-year-old former Ivory Coast midfielder who had never managed a senior club before, much less a national team.

Faced with the grim prospect of exiting their own party at the first hurdle, no one could have expected what would transpire next. The team nicknamed the Elephants somehow squeaked into the Round of 16 as the last of the four best third-placed teams. They then eliminated defending champions Senegal on penalties in the Round of 16, and overcame Mali 2-1 in the quarters despite playing the majority of the match a man short. 

With Fae a national hero after producing the impossible, the Ivorians beat Congo 1-0 in the semis at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium and they are back at this venue for the final against Nigeria as they try to become the first hosts to win the trophy since Egypt in 2006.

Nigeria already have one win over Ivory Coast at this tournament, having defeated them in the group stage 1-0.

The Super Eagles, as the three-time winners Nigeria are known, reached the final by outlasting South Africa in a thrilling penalty shootout. Nigeria will rely on reigning African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen to bang in the goals, but the 25-year-old striker has not been at his prolific best as he has managed just one strike so far.

At the opposite end, goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali has proven to be one tough cookie between the posts. He was on the verge of keeping a fifth straight clean sheet, only to be beaten by South African Teboho Mokoena’s late penalty in the semi-final. Nwabali dusted himself off and later saved two spot-kicks in the shootout to ensure Nigeria’s passage to a first Cup of Nations final since 2013.

On paper, this final seems too close to call and it wouldn’t surprise many if extra time and a penalty shootout are needed to determine the winner.