Monday saw one of the most iconic Africa Cup of Nations matches in history take place.
Ivory Coast, the hosts that announced themselves as one of the favorites following their 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the opening game, took on group leaders Equatorial Guinea needing a positive result to secure progression to the knockout stage.
The Elephants are the hosts and as a result, many predicted the two-time champions to translate this home advantage into a victory over the impressive Nzalang Nacional.
However, the unthinkable unfolded instead. Not only did the continental powerhouses lose to the Group A minnows, but Ivory Coast suffered one of their most humiliating losses, going 4-0 down against a team that had previously never made it out of the group stage in this tournament.
Equatorial Guinea captain Emilio Nsue, who made history with his hat-trick against Guinea-Bissau in their previous fixture, took center stage once again, scoring twice in this match and taking his tally in the tournament to five goals.
The 34-year-old striker, who often plays as a right-back for his Primera Federación club CF Intercity, broke the deadlock shortly before halftime. The skipper then completed his brace in the 75th minute straight after the restart following Pablo Ganet's stunning free-kick goal in the 73rd minute that doubled Equatorial Guinea's lead.
This stunning free kick doubled Equatorial Guinea's lead (videos are geo-restricted)
STUNNING GOAL BY GANET, AND GUINEA DRIVES IN THE DAGGER
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 22, 2024
The host nation moves further away from the dream of #AFCON2023 LIVE ON #beINSPORTS XTRA pic.twitter.com/BNDvMnRzSt
"OH MY WORDD"
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 22, 2024
Pablo Ganet unleashes a rocket of a shot from a long-range free kick to make it 2-0 to Equatorial Guinea! pic.twitter.com/sS5hzZHoAm
Emilio Nsue completed his brace with this effort immediately after the restart (videos are geo-restricted)
GUINEA BURIES IVORY COAST WITH THE THIRD ONE
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 22, 2024
Nsue scores his 5th goal of #AFCON2023 LIVE ON #beINSPORTS XTRA pic.twitter.com/m6K24MDSbU
It's another for Equatorial Guinea!!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 22, 2024
Emilio Nsue just can't stop scoring pic.twitter.com/KX9Xqkjl4y
An error from the Ivory Coast goalkeeper in the 88th minute only made things worse as the Elephants conceded a fourth goal en route to an embarrassing 4-0 win, making this the nation's heaviest-ever home defeat.
Furthermore, this is the country's largest defeat in Africa Cup of Nations history, having never lost a game in this tournament by a four-goal margin. And to make things worse, Nicolas Pepe and Co. are now facing a group-stage exit.
4 - Côte d'Ivoire suffered their largest loss in the Africa Cup of Nations against Equatorial Guinea, the Elephants had never lost an AFCON game by a four-goal margin before tonight. Disaster. #AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/Y21sPzcDEy
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) January 22, 2024
The top two spots in each group secure automatic progression to the round of 16 and those went to Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, with the Super Eagles beating Guinea-Bissau 1-0 in their final match. Meanwhile, the four best third-placed teams also qualify for the next round but Ivory Coast find themselves in a precarious situation following this result.
The hosts are currently the highest-ranked third-placed team in the competition. However, with only three points to their name and a horrible goal difference, they are at risk of being leapfrogged by every other side should their rivals — which includes Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, and Zambia — win their final group-stage games.