AFCON 2022: Ivory Coast Knock Algeria Out In Historical Repetition

Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe capped off a brilliant performance from Ivory Coast with a solo goal to seal off a 3-1  thrashing of the defending champions to send them home from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2022 on Thursday.

Algeria were on a 35-game unbeaten run was but it was ended by Equatorial Guinea in a stunning upset on matchday 2 and now they were outplayed again by the impressive Ivorians, who might have had more goals with better finishing.

Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare and Nicholas Pepe all register a goal to seal the top spot with seven points. They are joined in the second round by Equatorial Guinea (six points), whose 1-0 victory over Sierra Leone eliminated the latter.

Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty for Algeria, but Sofiane Bendebka grabbed a consolation goal.

It was more of a 'De Javu' for the Algerians as they also exited in the first round of the next tournament after claiming the trophy in 1990, losing 3-0 to the Ivorians, who went on to lift the trophy.