By Momodou Jarju
The Scorpions of The Gambia will today face the Syli national of Guinea Conakry in the round of 16 of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon. The game will be played at the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam at 4 pm.
The Scorpions, who are the lowest-ranked team at the Afcon finals, qualified to the next stage unbeaten from Group F with identical 7 points with group-leaders Mali. On the other hand, the Syli Nationale picked up 4 points as they beat Malawi 1-0, had a goalless draw with Senegal and lost 2-1 to Zimbabwe. They managed to finish in second place. Guinea and Liverpool star Naby Keita will miss the match through suspension.
Match Facts Culled from CAF online in parts:
Gambia (W2 D1) remain unbeaten three matches into their first Africa Cup of Nations and could become just the second 21st century debutants not to lose any of their first four matches in the competition, after Madagascar in 2019 (W2 D2).
Guinea are looking to win their first knock-out match at the Africa Cup of Nations at the sixth attempt, having lost all five of their previous such attempts – losing in the Round of 16 most recently in 2019 (0-3 against Algeria).