Thunderbolt, Ivory Coast humiliated, almost eliminated from its AFCON 2023

This scenario was simply unforeseen. Ivory Coast has just suffered a monumental defeat against Equatorial Guinea and is on the verge of exiting the AFCON 2023. While victory was crucial, or at least a draw, to hope for advancement to the Round of 16, the Elephants completely faltered, losing 4-0.

The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations is full of surprises, as we mentioned. Starting on January 13 with Ivory Coast opening against Guinea-Bissau, the AFCON 2023 already reveals the first eliminated nations. To the general surprise, the host country risks being part of the first group of teams leaving the competition. This Monday, Equatorial Guinea, unbeaten since June 2022, ended the Elephants’ journey with a clinical performance that sends shivers down the spine.

From the outset, Juan Micha’s players held their ground and surprised the Ivorians in the 42nd minute. Taking advantage of an error by Carlos Akakpo in Ivory Coast’s passive defense, Emilio Nsue punished Yaya Fofana, bringing his team to halftime with a 1-0 lead. Just as the Ivorians thought of equalizing, Ibrahim Sangaré saw his goal disallowed for offside.

In the second half, Jean-Louis Gasset’s changes failed to alter the course of the game. Shortly after another disallowed goal for Ivory Coast (Jean-Philippe Krasso), Pablo Ganet cooled the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium with a magnificent free-kick (73rd minute). In the 75th minute, Emilio Nsue secured a brace, further extending the lead to 3-0. Completely dejected, the Ivorians were further pushed down with the fourth goal by Jannick Buyla (88th minute).

And that’s it for Ivory Coast, which almost exits AFCON 2023 without avoiding the humiliation that Afrique Sport predicted. Even Opta, the supercomputer, did not anticipate this. We’ll have to see if there is a slim chance for Ivory Coast to end up among the best third-placed teams.