Africa: Afcon - Group a Should Be Straight Fight Between Elephants, Eagles

11 January 2024
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Jide Alaka

Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire are the top-ranked teams in Group A and both should qualify ahead of lower-ranked Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau

Group A: Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau

The latest FIFA ranking sees Nigeria, at 42, as the best-ranked team in Group A, followed by hosts Cote d'Ivoire (49), Equatorial Guinea (88), and Guinea-Bissau (103).

Based on this, the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire should finish first and second on the group table, but results and performances over the last three months suggest there could be plenty of surprise results at this AFCON.

Nigeria's Super Eagles have lost two of their original 25-man squad, Wilfred Ndidi, and Victor Boniface, just days before the tournament's kick-off, and many Nigerian football fans are not truly expectant that this team, led by Jose Peseiro, can win a fourth AFCON title.

Several pundits and former players have said Nigeria is one of the top five favourites for the title.

According to Algerian legend Rabah Madjer, both Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria not only stand out as favourites in their respective groups but are also considered strong contenders for success in the overall 24-team competition. Madjer conveyed to cafonline, "It's extremely challenging to single out a particular team as the favourite, especially with powerhouses like the host nation Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, and Nigeria participating in the finals."

Head-to-heads

Nigeria vs Cote d'Ivoire: Won-8; Lost-9; Drawn-10

The Elephants are the only team to hold a better head-to-head record against the Eagles, and their match-up on 18 January might likely determine the group winners.

This is not discountenancing the other two countries, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, who will try to become Davids in the group to defeat the Goliaths.

Nigeria vs. Equatorial Guinea: Won-3; Lost-0; Drawn-0

Nigeria vs. Guinea-Bissau: Won-2; Lost-1; Drawn-0

The Djurtus will be buoyed by their win over the Eagles last March at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja; thus, their encounter on 22 January at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan will hold no fears for the 103-FIFA-ranked team.

Cote d'Ivoire vs. Equatorial Guinea: Won-2; Lost-0; Drawn-1

Cote d'Ivoire vs. Guinea-Bissau: Won-1; Lost-0; Drawn-0

Guinea-Bissau vs. Equatorial Guinea: Won-1; Lost-0; Drawn-0

Hosts Cote d'Ivoire will be under pressure to perform, even though the new Elephants are in their nascent phase. Grizzled campaigners like Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Max Gradel, Franck Kessié, and Jean Michaël Seri will be expected to lead the newbies like Simon Adingra and Karim Konate.

The Alassane Ouattara Stadium and the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium will host all the matches in this group in Abidjan.

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