Two strong West African teams, Ivory Coast and Mali, were knocked out yesterday from the African Cup of Nations, AFCON 2021, which is taking place in Cameroon.

Eric Bailly’s bizarre missed penalty against Egypt eliminated Ivory Coast of the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday night.

The Elephants failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition, after leading a 0–0 draw against the country of Mohamed Salah. The latter have then taken the upper hand in the penalty shootout.

Mohamed Salah, and two Ivory coast players , January 26, 2022



In the other match, Mali – Equatorial Guinea, goalkeeper Jesus Owono became his country’s hero by shocking Les Aigles also on penalties.

Mali, 61 places, higher in the world rankings than their opponents, had the best chance. But they were frustrated by another resilient performance from Equatorial Guinea.



The West African countries still holding out in AFCON 2021 are now Senegal, who won (2-0) against Cape Verde on Tuesday; and Burkina Faso who opened the round of 16 last Sunday with a victory over Gabon on penalties.

The quarter-final will start on Saturday January 29, 2022. This day will see The Gambia against Cameroon and Burkina Faso against Tunisia. On Sunday, Egypt against Morocco and Senegal Vs Equatorial Guinea.

Source: AfrikPage