The curtain falls on Monday, January 22, 2024, on the proceedings of the third round in Group A, which includes Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea, in the 2023 African Cup of Nations.
Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau are set for a highly anticipated clash, while Equatorial Guinea faces Ivory Coast at the same time, 7 PM Cairo time.
The top spot in the group currently belongs to Equatorial Guinea, showcasing impressive performances in their fourth historical participation in the tournament.
They secured a victory against Guinea-Bissau and drew against Nigeria.
The “National Thunder” team holds 4 points, closely followed by Nigeria with the same score, having won against Ivory Coast and drawn with Equatorial Guinea.
Ivory Coast stands at third place with three points, securing a solitary victory against Bissau but suffering a loss against Nigeria. Guinea-Bissau, at the bottom of the table, has yet to secure any points, losing to Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea.
As of now, the qualification battle in the group remains undecided due to the proximity of points between the first, second, and third-placed teams.
Nigeria aims to overcome the hurdle of wounded Guinea-Bissau to secure advancement to the knockout stage with a tally of 7 points.
The team also hopes for Equatorial Guinea to stumble with a loss or draw to secure the top spot.
Historically, Nigeria has only faced Guinea-Bissau in three matches, one of which had a distinctive “CAN” character.
This encounter took place during the previous tournament’s group stage, where Nigeria emerged victorious with a 2-0 scoreline, courtesy of goals from Omar Sadiq and William Troost-Ekong.
In the ongoing qualifiers for the current African Cup, they played two matches.
Guinea-Bissau won the first leg with a solitary goal from Mama Balde but suffered a loss in the return leg with a goal from Moses Simon, via a penalty kick.
Regarding the match between Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea, they previously met in two African Cup finals.
The first encounter was in 2012 during the quarter-finals, where Ivory Coast won 2-0 thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure.
In the second match, in the group stage of the previous tournament in Cameroon, Ivory Coast secured a narrow 1-0 victory with a goal from Max Gradel.
The group leader will face the third-placed team from Group C, D, or E, while the group runner-up will play against the runner-up from Group C.
It is also possible that the third-placed team from Group A will face the winner of Group B or C.
The Round of 16 matches are scheduled to begin from Saturday, January 27, 2024, until Tuesday, January 30, 2024.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has set 7 PM and 10 PM as the match times for the upcoming round.
