Host nation Ivory Coast will have to rely on other results to avoid a shock Africa Cup of Nations group-stage exit after Equatorial Guinea thrashed the Elephants in a huge upset in Abidjan.
Emilio Nsue’s brace, Pablo Ganet’s 25-yard free-kick, and a late goal from Yannick Buyla secured a historic victory for the National Thunder, clinching the top spot in Group A.
However, the hosts are left anxiously awaiting qualification as they ended up in the third position in the group.
The top two sentences remain unchanged. Ibrahim Sangare had two equalizers disallowed for Ivory Coast when they were only one goal behind, but despite numerous wasted chances, the Elephants were punished by their clinical opponents.
At the final whistle, some Ivorian players were in tears as they were loudly booed off by an angry partisan crowd at Alassane Ouattara Stadium, marking one of the most significant upsets in Afcon history.
Meanwhile, the Equatorial Guinea contingent celebrated wildly after securing another seismic victory in the finals. They are set to face a third-placed team from Group C, D, or E in the last 16 on Sunday.
Their best performance at an Afcon tournament was reaching the semi-finals as hosts in 2015, but they finished above three-time champions Nigeria and the Ivorians, two-time winners, in an unexpected twist.
Ivory Coast will have to await the conclusion of the remaining group stage matches on Wednesday to determine if their three points and a goal difference of -3 are sufficient to secure a spot in the knockout stages.
Their hopes of progressing were boosted after Group B drew to a close later on Monday, when Ghana finished their campaign third in the table on two points.
Elephants left to bite nails after shock hammering
When Nsue guided Equatorial Guinea into an unexpected lead towards the end of the first half from Carlos Akapo’s cross, Ivory Coast manager Jean-Louis Gasset expressed his disbelief on the sidelines.
Little did he anticipate that even more adversity awaited his team.
Admittedly, luck was not on their side – Sangare believed he had quickly equalized, causing the stadium to erupt, only for the video assistant referee to disallow his close-range finish for offside.
Although the VAR decision on the Nottingham Forest midfielder’s beautiful left-footed strike early in the second half was more marginal, it proved to be correct, leaving the home fans once again crestfallen.
However, the Elephants were also culpable of squandering numerous opportunities at 1-0 down, with Sangare wildly missing from close range and Christian Kouame being denied in a one-on-one situation by goalkeeper Jesus Owono.
Following Ganet’s spectacular free-kick finding the top corner in the 73rd minute, leaving Yahia Fofana grasping at air, the hosts crumbled defensively, regularly caught on the counter.
Two minutes later, the former Middlesbrough and Birmingham forward Nsue concluded a two-on-one situation, slotting in his fifth goal of the tournament. This left the 34-year-old as the clear leading scorer in the competition, following his hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over Guinea-Bissau.
Substitute Buyla calmly netted the fourth goal late in the match, completing the rout and intensifying not only the host nation’s despair but, perhaps more significantly, worsening their goal difference.
In the previous Afcon held in Cameroon two years ago, two of the four teams that progressed from the third-place finish had three points – both, however, possessed a superior goal difference compared to the hosts in this tournament.
Despite falling two, and even three, goals behind, the Elephants still had opportunities to enhance their position. However, Karim Konate side-footed a golden chance wide, while Owono denied Jean-Phillipe Krasso’s attempt.