AFCON 2023: Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana Humbled By Three Minnows On Day 2

After Ivory Coast, the hosts of the ongoing 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), proved that there are still minnows in football by beating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 on the opening day of the tournament, the giants that played on day two proved otherwise.

Nigeria, Egypt, and the worst of them all, Ghana, all made it look like the AFCON 2023 would be an edition for the minnows.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria opened the floodgate for a disappointing outing for the giants by drawing 1-1 with a lowly-rated Equatorial Guinea.

During the game on Sunday, January 14, Equatorial Guinea opened the scoring in the 36th minute before Victor Osimhen brought Nigeria back about two minutes later.

When the followers of the AFCON 2023 thought they had seen the worst performance from the so-called giants of African football, Egypt, the most successful country in the tournament decided to prove that there are no longer minnows in football.

Mostafa Mohamed gave Egypt the lead in the second minute of the encounter against Mozambique. When most football enthusiasts thought the game would end in a whitewash, things turned around in the second half.

Mozambique scored two goals within three minutes (55th and 58th minute) to silent Egyptian spectators. It was not until the 97th minute that Mohamed Salah scored from the penalty spot to steal a 2-2 draw.

Interestingly, that was not the worst performance of the African giants. Ghana made it more obvious that indeed, the gap between the giants and the minnows have been bridged in African football.

Cape Verde opened the scoring against Ghana as early as in the 17th minute and the Black Stars had to wait until the 56th minute to get back into the game courtesy of Fenerbahçe defender Alexander Djiku.

When Ghanaians thought their beloved team had escaped with a draw, Cape Verde stroked in the 92nd minute with the winner courtesy of 33-year-old Garry Rodrigues who plays for Turkish side, MKE Ankaragücü.

As the AFCON 2023 continues, the world will be anxiously waiting to see whether the performance of the minnows in the day two of the tournament was a fluke or something that will last until February 11, the last day of the competition.