AFCON hosts Ivory Coast on brink of shock exit after humiliating 4-0 defeat
Ivory Coast's AFCON hopes hang in the balance after they suffered a chastening 4-0 defeat against relative minnows Equatorial Guinea.
The host nation were swept aside by one of the tournament's surprise packages and now depend on other results for qualification.
Ivory Coast, two-time champions, have picked up just three points in as many games and need to be one of the best four third-placed teams - out of six - to qualify from the group stages.
A double from Emilio Nsue and late strikes from Pablo Ganet and Jannick Buyla left Equatorial Guinea grinning and Ivory Coast with egg splattered on their faces.
Their potential early exit means four Premier League stars could be heading home early.
Nottingham Forest are keeping an eye on Willy Boly, Serge Aurier, and Ibrahim Sangare and could benefit from their return.
Aurier and Sangare have been unfavoured this season but Boly has been an important player and used to play under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves.
Meanwhile, Brighton would be fortunate to have Simon Adingra back so early.
The winger, 22, has scored five goals and made three assists, becoming an influential part of their forward line in the Premier League and Europa League.
Brighton have recorded back-to-back 0-0 draws in the Premier League without Adingra, including a stalemate with Wolves on Monday night, but found their scoring boots when they beat Stoke 4-2 in the FA Cup.
In the Championship, Hull City have missed Jean Michael Seri.
Liam Rosenior's side have only won one of their five games without the well-travelled midfielder.
Considering that Ivory Coast are four-time AFCON finalists, Forest, Brighton, and Hull would not have bet on potentially having players back so early.
No host nation had even lost a
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