Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea Bissau prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2024-01-17 14:00.
Equatorial Guinea handed group favourites Nigeria yet more Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) misery with a 1-1 draw in their opening game in Abidjan, where they remain for their meeting with rank outsiders Guinea-Bissau. It was their first ever point against the Super Eagles in an international tournament, whilst also extending their unbeaten run across all competitions to an impressive seven matches (W5, D2).
Juan Michá asserted his side deserved to win the match but let their guard down against “high level footballers” when conceding an equaliser just moments after opening the scoring. It was nonetheless a very encouraging performance against a nation more than 40 places their superior in the FIFA world rankings, and one that ought to give them great hope of overturning a 100% H2H losing record (L2).
The last such meeting was a 3-0 friendly victory for Guinea-Bissau in Portugal two years ago, but the squads for that match were vastly different. The Djurtus’ wait for an inaugural win at an AFCON finals (D3, L7) was extended further when they were outclassed 2-0 by Ivory Coast in their opening game, which is a result that has them on track to finish last in their group for a fourth consecutive time.
That added to an already humiliating start to the calendar year, also being thrashed 6-2 by Mali in a pre-tournament warm-up earlier this month. Manager Baciro Candé has a tough job ahead of him to rediscover his team’s confidence, having acknowledged after their loss at the weekend that the players struggled to make the most of the opportunities they created. But one doesn’t have to go far back to recognise the threat Guinea-Bissau can possess at their best, namely the 1-0 away victory against Nigeria when qualifying for this tournament as runners-up.
Players to watch: Perhaps the greatest surprise about seeing Iban Salvador’s name on the scoresheet against Nigeria was that he didn’t get booked, having received a card in 16 of his 30 appearances for club or country in 2023! Guinea-Bissau will be hoping for a better performance from Carlos Mané, who scored or assisted in his two internationals prior to this tournament.
Hot streak: Equatorial Guinea’s last seven matches (including friendlies) all produced under 2.5 total goals.