Defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Algeria are on the verge of a surprise exit in the group stage after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea late on Sunday.
Esteban Obiang netted the only goal of the game in the 70th minute as Equatorial Guinea, ranked 114th in the world, pulled off the biggest result of the tournament so far against the continent’s second-ranked team.
Algeria did have the ball in the net twice but the respective efforts by Baghdad Bounedjah and Youcef Belaili were ruled out for offside. Equatorial Guinea also had goalkeeper Jesús Owono to thank for producing a string of saves to deny the pre-tournament favorites.
The defeat sent Algeria to the bottom of Group E on one point with just one game left as the Desert Foxes settled for a goalless draw against Sierra Leone in their first match.
Crucially, it also ended the North African side’s 35-match unbeaten streak which began in 2018. Algeria had been hoping to break Italy’s world record of 37 matches unbeaten.
Algeria now must defeat Côte d’Ivoire in their final group game to have any hope of advancing to the knockout phase.
Meanwhile, Côte d’Ivoire missed the chance to secure automatic qualification for the knockout phase after conceding a dramatic late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Sierra Leone.
Côte d’Ivoire missed a chance to take an early lead after Sierra Leone goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara, hero of the previous match against Algeria, kept out Franck Kessié’s penalty in the 12th minute.
Côte d’Ivoire did take the lead, eventually, as Sébastien Haller netted the opener from close range after being set up by Wilfried Zaha.
However, Sierra Leone leveled the tie 10 minutes into the second half as Musa Kamara expertly controlled the ball and fired a left-footed shot high into the net.
Nicolas Pépé restored Côte d’Ivoire’s lead in the 65th minute with a low curling finish from just inside the penalty box.
With the game seemingly won, Côte d’Ivoire goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangaré had a moment of madness in which he spilled a headed-back pass back into play allowing Steven Caulker to pick out Alhadji Kamara who squeezed the ball into the net in the third minute of added time in the second half.
Côte d’Ivoire defender Serge Aurier was then forced to go in goal for the final minutes with Sangaré injured but no further goals were scored.
Côte d’Ivoire leads Group E with four points followed by Equatorial Guinea on three points while Sierra Leone is third with two points and Algeria has one point.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)
