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

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

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