AFCON 2023: Côte d’Ivoire off to flying start with 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau
Goals in either half from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso did the damage as the Elephants made a perfect start to AFCON Group A in Abidjan
Hosts Côte d’Ivoire opened Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 with a straightforward 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
Goals in either half from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso did the damage as the Elephants made a perfect start to Group A in Abidjan.
It took just four minutes for the competition to get up and running as Seko Fofana put Côte d’Ivoire 1-0 up.
The tournament hosts pounced on a terrible pass from Jefferson Encada just outside the Guinea-Bissau box and Fofana smashed in a nice goal despite being surrounded by defenders.
The visitors broke through just before the half-hour mark for their first big chance of the game but Mama Balde could not beat the goalkeeper.
Côte d’Ivoire responded with another excellent shot effort from Fofana, only to see goalkeeper Ouparine Djoco tip it on to the bar. The Ivorians had another great opportunity moments later but Jean-Philippe Krasso’s effort from close range was blocked.
While the chances were few and far between for them, Guinea-Bissau maintained some hope of staying in the game, but that all came to an end just before the hour mark when Opa Sangante’s calamitous defending gifted Krasso a chance and he made no mistake in firing it in.
Côte d’Ivoire will hope to make it two wins in a row when they take on Nigeria in their next game on 18 January. On the same day, Guinea-Bissau will hope to recover when they meet Equatorial Guinea.
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