Equatorial Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire face off in Douala for the opening account of Group E Match Day 1 of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.
Equatorial Guinea makes their return to the continental showdown after a six-year absence. They last featured in the competition back in 2015 when they finished fourth. They lost to DR Congo on penalties after the third-place playoff ended goalless in normal time.
The Nzalang Nacional are making just their third appearance in the competition this time around and will be looking to go a step further than they did last time.
Cote d’Ivoire are one of the strongest sides on the continent and are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the competition this year. They were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the last edition by eventual winners Algeria.
The Elephants are among the favourites in the tournament and will be looking to kickstart their cup run with a win on Wednesday.
Match Card
Date: 12 January 2022
Time: 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT)
Stadium: Japoma Stadium, Douala
Group: E
Match: Equatorial Guinea v Cote d’Ivoire
Following are the Match Facts from Opta:
· The only previous encounter between Equatorial Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire in the Africa Cup of Nations was in the quarterfinals of the 2012 tournament – Côte d’Ivoire won 3-0.
· This is Equatorial Guinea’s third Africa Cup of Nations, but it’s the first time they have qualified as non-hosts. They have so far always reached the knockout stages (quarter-finalists in 2012, 4th place in 2015).
· This is Côte d’Ivoire’s 24th participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, a tally only bettered by Egypt (25).
They have won the tournament twice (1992 and 2015) and progressed to the knockout stages in seven of their last eight appearances.
· Côte d’Ivoire have lost only two of their last 20 group games at the Africa Cup of Nations (W12 D6), both against Morocco in 2017 and 2019. Their last defeat in an opening match was in 1996 against Ghana (0-2).
· Côte d’Ivoire midfielder Franck Kessié was the joint-top assist provider in the last Africa Cup of Nations – all three of his assists came in one game against Namibia. He was also The Elephants’ top scorer in qualifying for this year’s tournament (3 goals).
