DOUALA, Cameroon — Defending champion Algeria was dumped out of the African Cup of Nations in the group stage on Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast’s one-sided victory meant Algeria, which was again one of the favourites this year, exited without a win at the bottom of Group E.
The drubbing by Ivory Coast made sure it stayed there.
Algeria joined another former champion, Ghana, in leaving early after failing to win a game and finishing bottom of the group. While those two African soccer powers are on their way home, Comoros and Gambia are on their way to the knockout stage of their first major tournament.
In another surprising result, Gambia scored in the 93rd minute to beat former champion Tunisia 1-0 in Group F. Ablie Jallow slammed a shot high into the net from the edge of the area for Gambia.
After the last day of the group stage, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea advanced from Group E. Mali, Gambia and Tunisia, which was one of the four best third-place teams, all progressed from Group F.
Algeria needed to beat Ivory Coast to keep its title defence alive after drawing with Sierra Leone and losing to Equatorial Guinea on Sunday. Ivory Coast surged into a 3-0 lead in Douala through goals by Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Pepe.
Kessie turned a volley in for the opener and Sangare was completely unmarked from a free kick to power a header home. The Algerian defenders stood and looked at each other after the goal.
Pepe’s goal was high quality as he bore down on goal, swerved in between two defenders, and stroked a shot into the left corner.
Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty after 60 minutes to encapsulate Algeria’s miserable tournament. The Manchester City forward sent Ivory Coast keeper Badra Ali Sangare the wrong way but his spot kick cannoned off the post.
Algeria pulled one back through Sofiane Bendebka’s header but that did nothing to soften the blow of a disastrous tournament for the North Africans.
Ivory Coast set up a round of 16 meeting with Egypt next Wednesday. Ivory Coast won the African Cup in 2015 in the Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure era but had been overlooked at this tournament. That changed with a compelling performance against Algeria which could have easily produced more goals.
Equatorial Guinea followed up its stunner over Algeria by beating 10-man Sierra Leone 1-0 in the other Group E game on Thursday to progress behind group winner Ivory Coast. Sierra Leone’s 37-year-old striker Kei Kamara missed a late penalty that would have put his team through as one of the best third-place teams at the expense of Comoros.
Comoros had to wait since Tuesday to see if it would advance but ultimately squeezed through as the lowest-ranked of the third-place teams. The tiny island nation stunned four-time African Cup winner Ghana 3-2 in Group C to claim its first victory in major tournament soccer.
Comoros’ will meet host Cameroon in the round of 16 at Olembe Stadium in Yaounde on Monday.
Tunisia’s Seifeddine Jaziri had a penalty saved in the loss to Gambia. Mali won 2-0 against Mauritania in the other Group F game, when Ibrahima Kone ended that trend and did score from the spot for Mali’s second.
The African Cup returns on Sunday with the first two games in the round of 16; Burkina Faso vs. Gabon and Nigeria vs. Tunisia.
