Ivory Coast will begin their 2022 AFCON campaign this Wednesday with a clash against Equatorial Guinea at the Japoma Stadium.
Venue: Japoma Stadium.
Key Statistics
Equatorial Guinea are unbeaten in their last five games.
They have failed to score only once in their last ten games.
Ivory Coast have avoided defeat in each of their last 11 AFCON openers.
They are making their eight consecutive AFCON appearance in this campaign.
Head to head
There has been just two meetings between the two sides. Cote d’Ivoire won one of those encounters while the other ended in a draw.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Equatorial Guinea: D-W-D-W-W
Ivory Coast: L-W-W-W-W
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea will look to begin their 2022 AFCON campaign with a win when they face one of the tournament’s favourites Ivory Coast in Douala on Wednesday.
The Central African side make their return to the continental tournament after a six-year absence. Their last AFCON participation was back in 2015 when they finished fourth after losing to DR Congo on penalties in their third-place playoff game.
They qualified for the 2021 AFCON with a second-placed finish in their group, despite only amassing nine points during the qualifiers.
The ‘Nzalang Nacional’ head into Wednesday’s contest unbeaten in their last five matches since suffering a 3-0 defeat against Tunisia in September. They will fancy their chances of getting a good result against their high-ranking opponents.
Possible Equatorial Guinea starting line-ups
Jesus Owono; Javier Akapo, Saul Coco, Esteban Obiang, Basilio Ndong; Federico Bikoro, Pablo Ganet; Emilio Nsue, Jose Machin, Josete Miranda; Oscar Siafa.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast will look to begin their 2021 AFCON campaign with a win when they play Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday.
The Elephants are one of the strongest sides on the continent and are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the competition this year.
Their last outing in the tournament ended in the quarterfinals as they were beaten by eventual winners Algeria.
They secured their place in this year’s AFCON campaign by winning their group, taking 13 of a possible 18 points during the qualifying campaign.
Their last continental success was back in 2015 but Patrice Beaumelle’s men have performed far below expectations in the subsequent two editions of the competition.
They will be desperate to begin this campaign with a win and settle their nerves early as they still have a heavy clash with group favourites Algeria in the coming rounds.
Possible Ivory Coast starting line-ups
Sylvain Gbohouo; Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Eric Bailly, Wilfried Kanon; Frank Kessie, Jean-Michael Seri, Ibrahim Sangare; Maxwell Cornet, Nicolas Pepe, Sebastien Haller.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Equatorial Guinea 1-3 Ivory Coast