Félix Houphouët Boigny Stadium centre attention tonight as record 7-time winners Egypt date Ghana

* Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw by Mozambique in their opening match while the Black Stars were stunned 1-2 by Cape Verde

* Both sides have an impressive record in the tournament but have not really lived up to their high standards of late

Maravi Express

Abidjan’s Félix Houphouët Boigny Stadium will be the centre attention once again as Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Group B action resumes tonight at 20:00hrs as tournament record 7-time champions, Egypt take on West African giants, Ghana with both sides aiming for nothing less than a victory.

Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw by Mozambique in their opening match while the Black Stars were stunned 1-2 by Cape Verde. Both sides have an impressive record in the tournament but have not really lived up to their high standards of late.

The unconvincing showing against Mozambique in the second half left a lot of questions of the last edition’s silver-medalists, while Ghana’s shock defeat to Cape Verde raised a lot of questions of the star-studded Black Stars team.

Both sides find themselves in a very tricky position of having to win tonight’s match, with the so-called underdogs of the group Cape Verde and Mozambique currently high in confidence.

This will be the fifth CAF AFCON meeting between the two giants as they have already faced each other three times in groups (1 victory each, a draw and 2 goals on both sides) as well as once in the final which was won by Egypt in 2010 (1-0).

The Alassane Ouattara Stadium will play host to Equitorial Guinea playing against Guinea Bissau. 

The Djurtus lost their opening game against the hosts Côte d’Ivoire In their opening game while Equatorial Guinea managed a point against Nigeria. 

A defeat against Equatorial Guinea will mean Guinea Bissau are without a win in their last 11 CAF AFCON games and to make it worse, they have failed to score a goal in the last 8 games. 

This put Juan Michá’ side who are unbeaten In their last three AFCON group games as the favorites for the clash this afternoon at 14:00hrs. 

Equatorial Guinea’s main man is Iban Salvador. He has scored or assisted in three different AFCON editions (two goals, one assist) since making his debut in the competition in 2015 — and will be key for the National Thunders in the game if they are to record a win.