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Africa Cup of Nations: Algeria runner-up away from Comoros

The Algerian champions were knocked out of the African Cup of Nations on Thursday in a group stage defeat 3-1 against a team from Côte d’Ivoire, which was sometimes horrific and was announced as Cameroon’s title contender.

Côte d’Ivoire’s 1-0 victory over Algeria, who were also favorites this year, came out on top at the start of the tournament after two shock results leaving the bottom of the Group E standings. He made sure he stayed there thanks to the blow from Côte d’Ivoire.

Algeria joined another former champion, Ghana, who did not win a game and left early after finishing last in the group. While these two African football powers are on their way home, the Comoros and Gambia are on their way to qualifying for the first major tournament.

In another surprising result – the ups and downs happen almost every day in this completely unpredictable African Cup – Gambia scored in the 93rd minute to win the former Tunisian champions 1-0 in Group F. Gambia area.

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After the final day of the group stage, the result was that Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea went through Group E and Mali, Gambia and Tunisia, one of the top three teams in the third round, advanced to Group F.

Algeria had to win Côte d’Ivoire to keep their title defense alive after a draw with Sierra Leone when they found themselves on the wrong side of one of the biggest incidents in African Cup history. He lost to Equatorial Guinea on Sunday. Ivory Coast came close to scoring 3-0 with goals from Douala, Franck Kessié and Ibrahim Sangaré, and Nicolas Pépé in the 54th minute.

Kessié was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn’t prepared. The Algerian defender stood up and looked at each other after the goal. Pépé’s goal was of high quality, as he entered next to the goalkeeper, crossed between the two defenders and fired a shot from the left corner.

Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty in the 60th minute to wrap up a disastrous Algerian championship. The Manchester City striker sent the wrong way to Ivory Coast goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangaré, but his shot bounced off the post. Algeria pulled back from Sofiane Bendebka’s header, but that didn’t stop the North Africans from softening the blow of a disastrous tournament.

Côte d’Ivoire hosted a round-robin meeting with Egypt next Wednesday in a return match. Côte d’Ivoire won the African Cup of Nations in 2015 under Yaya Touré, but was forgotten in this tournament. That changed with a convincing behavior against Algeria, which could easily lead to more goals.

Sierra Leone away

Equatorial Guinea followed a stunning streak against Algeria on Thursday in another Group E match with a 10-0 win over Sierra Leone 1-0 to beat the winning side of Côte d’Ivoire. Sierra Leonean striker Kei Kamara, a 37-year-old striker, missed a penalty that would have put his team in third place, at the expense of the Comoros.

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The Comoros had to wait until Tuesday to see if it would move forward, but eventually fell short of the third-ranked teams. The small island nation, which has won the African Cup of Nations four times, stunned Ghana 3-2 in Group C for its first major football tournament victory. In terms of context, the Comoros only played their first game as a team in 1979, and by then Ghana had already won three African titles.

The Comoros Prize is the final match of the last 16 against the host Cameroon on Monday at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.

Tunisian Seifeddine Jaziri saved the penalty spot when he lost to Gambia in the third missed shot after Mahrez and Kamara. Mali beat Mauritania 2-0 in another Group F match, when Ibrahima Koné ended that trend and scored Mali’s second.

The Africa Cup of Nations rests on Friday and Saturday before returning on Sunday with the first two matches of the quarter-finals; Burkina Faso vs Gabon and Nigeria vs Tunisia. The sentence imposed by Tunisia for losing to Gambia is a meeting with fit Nigerians.

Results

  • 1. Boli Coast 3-1 Algeria
  • 2. Sierra Leone 0-1 Equatorial Guinea
  • 3. Gambia 1-0 Tunisia
  • 4. Mali 2-0 Mauritania

Conferences – Round of 16

  • 1. Burkina Faso v Gabon – January 23
  • 2. Nigeria v Tunisia – January 23
  • 3. Guinea v Gambia – January 24
  • 4. Cameroon v Comoros – January 24
  • 5. Senegal v Cape Verde – January 25
  • 6. Morocco v Malawi – January 25
  • 7. Ivory Coast v Egypt – January 26
  • 8. Mali v Equatorial Guinea – January 26

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