Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea Bissau prediction 18.01.2024

• Competition: Africa Cup of Nations
• Date: Thursday, 18th January 2024
• Kickoff: 14:00 UTC / 15:00 CET
• Venue: Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara (Abidjan)

On Thursday afternoon at Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, we will have an interesting Africa Cup of Nations duel between Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Both teams are far from the best African teams but hope to sneak into the knockout phase. 

Equatorial Guinea had a brilliant opening to the tournament with a 1-1 against Nigeria. Juan Micha Obiang Bicogo's team was a huge underdog, but their defense was almost faultless, so they picked up a valuable point. Equatorial Guinea have a mediocre team, but although most of their players are unknown to most people, they are still on a run of 11 matches without a defeat. The main strength of Obiang Bicogo's team is in their brilliant defense, so that is something they will look up to build on versus Guinea Bissau in the second round.

On paper, Equatorial Guinea have one of the worst teams at the Africa Cup of Nations. Their best player is Saul Coco, who played in 16 league rounds for Las Palmas this season. Jose Machin (nine matches for Monza) is another player that should be mentioned. Still, although Equatorial Guinea lacks quality, they are playing well under the head coach, Juan Micha Obiang Bicogo. 

Guinea Bissau are probably one of the worst teams in the tournament, and they should finish last in this group. Guinea Bissau started a competition with a 2-0 loss against Ivory Coast. Baciro Cande's team struggled in that game from the start, as they were already behind in the fourth minute. Until the end, Ivory Coast didn't have too many problems to secure all three points. 

Guinea Bissau have a few more players than Equatorial Guinea in big European leagues. The most important national team player is attacker Mama Balde, who appeared in ten Ligue 1 matches for Lyon this season. Fali Cande (Metz), Franculino (Midtjylland), and Houbouland Mendes (Almeria) are some of the players worth mentioning. 

Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea Bissau pick: Under 2.5 goals

Equatorial Guinea allowed only three goals in the last seven matches. Also, each one of those seven games went under 2.5 goals. On the other hand, Guinea Bissau scored only six goals in the previous five matches. Under 2.5 should be the best bet for this tie.