A late goal by Guinea’s Mohamed Bayo ended Equatorial Guinea’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign as they suffered a 1-0 defeat with 10 men in the battle of the Guineas in Abidjan on Sunday evening.
The National Thunder were one of the exciting teams in the group stage having finished top of Group A ahead of Nigeria, hosts Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau.
After a goalless first half, things did not go to plan for the Equatorial Guineans as Federico Bikiro was given a straight red card for a dangerous challenge in the 55th minute.
More misery came on Juan Micha’s side as AFCON 2023 top scorer Emilio Nsue had missed from the penalty spot in the 68th minute after Ivan Salvador was brought down in the box.
Guinea began to pile more pressure but it looked like Equatorial Guinea were going to be able to force extra time even with eight additional minutes given. Their defensive resilience was however broken when Ibrahim Diakite’s cross found the head of Bayo to power home with less than 30 seconds left, leaving Equatorial Guinea players in tears.
Drama! Absolute drama at Stade Olympique Alassane as Equatorial Guinea face a shocking elimination from #AFCON2023
Equatorial Guinea???????? 0-1 ????????Guinea#Afrosport #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #EGQGUI pic.twitter.com/NPmQfVPvWY
— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) January 28, 2024
Guinea have progressed to the AFCON quarter-finals for the fifth time in their history and will get to face the winner of the other Sunday round of 16 clash between Egypt and DR Congo.
