Cote d’Ivoire push for must win clash against Equatorial Guinea

TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 hosts, The Elephants take on Equatorial Guinea in a must win Group A encounter on Monday, 22 January at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe.

Following their disappointing 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, the hosts must get all three points to secure automatic qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.

Anything less than a victory will result in huge disappointment for the Ivorians who have shown massive support for the host nation in their two fixtures.

Despite being favourites on paper, it will not be smooth sailing for them against a Group A topping side who are high in confidence following their 1-1 opening draw against Nigeria which was followed by an emphatic 4-2 win over Guinea-Bissau.

A point will be enough for Equatorial Guinea to secure a place in the Round of 16 but Juan Micha will most likely want to cause the biggest upset of the ongoing competition by overcoming the Elephants and being the nation to knock them out of the competition they are hosting.

This will be the third meeting between the two sides in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Cote d’Ivoire won the first two which was a 3-0 quarter final win in 2012 followed by a 1-0 win in the group stages in Cameroon.

The match will be played simultaneously with the other Group A meeting between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau scheduled at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan.

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