Ghana's Christian Atsu had what writers for France 24 named the best chance of the match when he hit the goalpost from 30 yards (27 m) on 25 minutes, from an André Ayew pass.

Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry then produced a save against Afriyie Acquah, before Frank Acheampong missed Ghana's fourth penalty kick, and the teams were level.

[4] The Ivory Coast appeared in their 20th Africa Cup of Nations tournament, their sole victory coming in 1992 when they defeated Ghana on sudden death in a penalty shootout at the end of a goalless draw.

[9] Ghana took the lead on 14 minutes through a penalty by André Ayew, after Christian Atsu had been fouled, but Senegal equalised in the second half through Mame Biram Diouf.

[11] The match remained goalless until injury time at the end in the second half, when Ghana took the lead as Asamoah Gyan scored from a long pass by Mubarak Wakaso.

Ghana fell behind to a volley by South African Mandla Masango in their game, played on 27 January in Mongomo, but a John Boye equaliser on 73 minutes, followed by an Ayew goal gave them a 2–1 win and first place in the group.

Referee Eric Otogo-Castane awarded Ghana a penalty after 41 minutes for a foul on Appiah, which was vociferously disputed by Equatorial Guinea.

Ayew scored the penalty, and Equatorial Guinea attempted to restart the game, but Otogo-Castane ordered them to wait until Ghana had finished celebrating.

[18] Guinea, who had not been able to play any home games during qualification due to the Ebola epidemic, took the lead after 36 minutes through a Mohamed Yattara volley.

[23] Ivory Coast faced Cameroon in their game, playing for a third time in Malabo,[24] and they earned a 1–0 win through Gradel's 20-yard (18 m) shot on 35 minutes.

Algeria applied pressure as they sought to equalise again, amid some poor Ivorian defending, but Ivory Coast held on and added a third goal through Gervinho in the 4th minute of injury time to seal a 3–1 win.

They retook the lead through Gervinho shortly before half-time, and a goal by Wilfried Kanon midway through the second half completed their second consecutive 3–1 win and a place in the final.

Ivory Coast won an early corner kick, but it was cleared by Appiah with Serey Dié's long-range follow-up easily blocked.

[31] Yaya Touré had the first chance to score in the game on 12 minutes; he cleared the wall with a free kick, but the shot went straight to Ghanaian goalkeeper Brimah Razak, who caught it.

The first half ended with a score of 0–0, The Guardian's Alan Smith describing it as "tense, as one would expect of a final between two sides with little to choose between them, but entertaining nonetheless".

[31][32] A run down the right flank by Atsu gave Ghana another attack one minute after that, but Gyan's shot from the resulting pass was blocked by Ivory Coast.

[33] Ghana had the first opportunity of the second half on 93 minutes when Baba Rahman ran down the left-hand side, but Aurier was able to stop the attack with a diving block.

[31] Doumbia then had one of the best chances of extra time shortly afterwards,[32] but he was unable to get a shot on goal as his control of the ball was described by Smith as "dismal".

Both teams made two substitutions as the penalty shoot-out approached, Frank Acheampong and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu coming on for Ghana, while Tallo Gadji and Salomon Kalou came on for Ivory Coast.

In their report of the game, BBC Sport said "there was a sense of inevitability throughout the match that it would go the distance as neither team appeared to be prepared to take the risks that might bring a victory".

[33] Ghana's Wakaso took the first penalty of the shoot-out and scored, hitting the ball to the opposite side of the goal after Barry had dived to his left.

Ayew followed for Ghana and scored, and then Tallo, who had not touched the ball since coming on as a late substitute, missed for Ivory Coast, hitting his shot wide.

Barry required some medical attention to his wrist following the save, but he was able to take his kick and he scored past Razak to seal a 9–8 shoot-out victory and the title for Ivory Coast.

[31][35] Man of the Match: Afriyie Acquah (Ghana) Assistant referees: Djibril Camara (Senegal) Ali Waleed Ahmed (Sudan) Fourth official: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) In summarising the final, BBC Sport reporters noted that "defeat was perhaps a little harsh on Ghana, who had the better of the chances in the scoreless 120 minutes that preceded the shootout and twice hit the woodwork",[33] while writers for France 24 wrote that "two hours of action delivered few chances as the tired-looking teams fought out an error-strewn midfield battle, although Ghana’s Christian Atsu came close to scoring with a snapshot that hit the post".

Ivory Coast manager Hervé Renard, who had also won the 2012 tournament with Zambia, later praised the Ivorian team, saying "... our relationship was strong and I put my trust in them.

Speaking about the penalty shoot-out, Renard said "We missed the first two, but I knew it wasn’t over yet; the players wanted to do the impossible and win the title after twice being runners-up.

[6][38] After returning home, the Ivory Coast players took part in a victory parade in the country's commercial capital Abidjan on 9 February 2015.