Nigeria, already qualified for the round of 16, faced Guinea-Bissau for the last day of group D of CAN 2021. Coach Augustine Eguavoen decided to rotate his team a little, but always with the objective of victory which would allow to secure first place. For its part, Guinea-Bissau of the Trojan Mama Baldé had no other choice but to win to try to qualify for the next round as the best third.
But in a meeting where Nigeria quietly managed, Guinea-Bissau never knew how to pack the game. Alex Iwobi’s teammates even found the fault in the second half thanks to Umar Sadiq (52nd) before William Troost-Ekong made the break (75th). Goals that allow Nigeria to secure victory and confirm their status as favorites in the competition. No other selection has managed to win in the three group matches in this CAN.
Salah’s Egypt provides the essentials
In the other game, Egypt had to win to ensure qualification as second in their group. After a rather consistent first period, Mohamed Salah’s teammates opened the scoring from a corner thanks to a header from Abdelmonem (35th). And if this first act removed doubts about the level of the Egyptians, Carlos Queiroz’s men fell back into their traps afterwards.
In the second half, Egypt was much less reassuring both offensively and defensively where they conceded a lot of chances against a team from Sudan who also had to win to snatch a qualification. But despite a few chances at the end of the match, the score will not move. Egypt qualify for the round of 16 will have to face the first of group E (Ivory Coast, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea or Sierra Leone Leone).