Defending champions Algeria crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-1 defeat against Ivory Coast in Douala. Riyad Mahrez who captain them to the tournament did not score any goal till they were eliminated from the tournament. The Manchester City forward missed a penalty in the game that saw them lose 3-1.
Algeria needed a win to make it through to the next stage of the competition after drawing their opening game and then losing the second one. A win would have given them four-point and made them qualify as the best loses from their group. Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe put the Ivorians 3-0 up before Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez hit a penalty against the post when given a penalty.
Algeria star Sofiane Bendebka scored a late goal which was only a consolation goal. They exited the competition with one point, the bottom of Group E after a torrid campaign. Djamel Belmadi’s men are the third holders to exit at the first hurdle in the past five Nations Cup finals.
Their departure from the competition is in marked contrast to their entry, travelling to Cameroon on a 34-match unbeaten run and looking to surpass Italy’s record of 37.
The Algerians had drawn 0-0 with Sierra Leone before a 1-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea, and leave with just one point from three games – but did at least finally get on the scoresheet in Cameroon when substitute Bendebka’s late goal inspired a brief rally.
Ivory Coast’s Elephants topped the group to line up a mouth-watering last-16 match with Egypt, scheduled for Douala on Wednesday, 26 January.