At 00:00 Beijing time on January 21, the African Cup of Nations Group E group stage round 3 a life-and-death battle, the two-champion Ivory Coast to face the defending champion Algeria. In the first half, Casey took the lead and Sangrega extended his advantage; in the second half, Nicola Pepe scored another goal, Mahrez missed the point and Bundebuca pulled back a city. In the end, Côte d'Ivoire defeated Algeria 3-1. The former locked in the group top of the line, the latter out of the bottom.
In the 22nd minute, Nicola Pepe broke through the bottom, knocked back in an inverted triangle, and Casey followed up with a push to break the goal! Ivory Coast lead 1-0!
In the 39th minute, Aurier's set-piece in front of him was hoisted straight into the box and Sangarei at the back post was hammered into the net from close range! Ivory Coast leads 2-0!
In the 54th minute, Alai dodged the shovel and then scored the ball, Nicolas Pepe burst into the box and shot into the far corner! Ivory Coast leads 3-0!
In the 59th minute, Bellelli was pulled down by a crotch-piercing man inside the penalty area and the referee decisively awarded a penalty. Unfortunately, Mahrez's penalty hit the right upright.
In the 73rd minute, an Algerian corner kick was sent into the box, Mandy hooked the ball back into the middle of the line in front of the bottom line, and Benderbucca's header broke the net! 1-3, Algeria to win back a city! It was Algeria's first goal in this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. In the three rounds of group matches, they completed 46 shots on goal and scored only 1 goal.
Eventually, Côte d'Ivoire beat Algeria 3-1. In the last African Cup of Nations, the same two African giants met, when in the quarter-finals, Algeria eliminated Côte d'Ivoire through a penalty shootout. This time, the "African elephant" finally raised its eyebrows and breathed a sigh of relief, and the revenge was successful.
Even more surprising is Algeria's performance. As defending champions, they were forced to draw 0-0 by Sierra Leone in the first round and lost to Equatorial Guinea in the second round, and finally had to accept the fate of being out of the bottom of the group. According to statistics, Algeria became the first defending champion in nearly 32 years to lose two games in the Group Stage of the African Cup of Nations.
After the game, many Algerian players collapsed to the ground and even shed tears of disappointment.