Hosts Ivory Coast have to worry about reaching the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations.
After a disastrous 0:4 (0:1) against Equatorial Guinea, the team around Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou, who was not used, only finished the preliminary group A in third place.
Group winners Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, which defeated Guinea-Bissau 1-0 (1-0) at the same time, are through to the next round.
The Ivory Coast must now hope to be one of the four best third-place teams after completing the other five preliminary round groups.
Then coach Jean-Louis Gasset’s team would also move into the round of 16 despite the meager return of three points (2:5 goals). As early as 1984, when the country also hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, it was over after the preliminary round.