A 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Equatorial Guinea proved to be too much for one Ivory Coast player, who was seen crying on the bench after missing a chance to equalise
Ivory Coast's midfielder #8 Franck Kessie consoles Ivory Coast's forward #14 Oumar Diakite after Equatorial Guinea won the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2024 group A football match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe, Abidjan on January 22, 2024
AFCON hosts Ivory Coast are now sweating on their knockout stage progression
Ivory Coast star Christian Kouame broke down in tears as their Africa Cup of Nations hopes were left hanging in the balance.
The tournament hosts suffered a shock 4-0 defeat at the hands of Equatorial Guinea, who are 39 places below them in the FIFA rankings. It meant they've finished third in their group, with their opponents securing top spot ahead of Nigeria.
Those two are both through to the knockout stages, but the Ivory Coast now face a nervy wait to see if the qualify as one of the four best-ranked third-placed teams across the six groups. It all proved to be too much for Kouame.
After being subbed off in the second half, the Fiorentina winger, 26, was seen crying on the bench as the second, third and fourth goals went in. He'd missed a golden chance to equalise before being replaced.
The weight of that error clearly weighed heavy on his shoulders as he watched on helpless from the sidelines. Come the full-time whistle, he wasn't the only one who cut an emotional figure.
The defeated Ivory Coast team were consoling each other having failed to live up to the expectations of them as one of the favourites to repeat their 2015 triumph.
Christian Kouame crying on the bench
Winger Christian Kouame could be seen crying on the bench during the 4-0 loss
They'll now have to wait until the completion of the group stage on Wednesday (January 24) to learn their fate, having won just one of their three games - a 2-0 victory over basement side Guinea Bissau in the opening fixture of the tournament.
That victory puts makes them better off than any of the other current third-placed teams. But the standings could change significantly in the next 48 hours.
In the other fixture in Group A, Nigeria beat Bissau 1-0. Egypt, meanwhile, are likely to be without Mohamed Salah should they progress after his agent estimated a three to four week recovery on his hamstring injury.
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