Emilio Nsue was crowned top scorer of the Africa Cup in January, but according to FIFA he should never have played for Equatorial Guinea. The 34-year-old Spaniard had already received a ban from the world football association in 2013, but nevertheless played more than 40 matches for the African country.
In January, Equatorial Guinea surprised friend and foe at the African Cup of Nations. It became group winner ahead of football giants Nigeria and Ivory Coast and in the 1/8th finals it was only eliminated in the 98th minute.
The absolute standout for the West African country was captain and tournament top scorer Emilio Nsue, but it now appears that he should never have played for Equatorial Guinea.
Emilio Nsue, who currently plays for CF Intercity in the Spanish third division, went through the Spanish youth series, for which he played a total of 26 matches up to the U21 level. Only then did he acquire Equatorial Guinean nationality and, according to FIFA, that is too late to make the switch.
No agreement from FIFA, already 42 international matches
It is striking that FIFA repeated an earlier decision from 2013. At that time, the Equatorial Guinean association had already asked its Spanish counterpart for Nsue’s release, but the world football association was not consulted. The two World Cup qualifiers in which Nsue participated were converted into a 3-0 defeat.
Even more impressive is that Nsue also played in the two subsequent World Cup qualifiers, but FIFA did not intervene. The African Cup, where Nsue was top scorer with 5 goals, falls outside the jurisdiction of the World Football Association.
Nsue also played during the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup. In November he scored the only goal against both Namibia and Liberia, but those two victories have now also been converted into a 3-0 defeat by FIFA. Undoubtedly to be continued…
Africa Cup of Nations 2023: final phase
final Nigeria Ivory Coast 1-2 for 3rd place South Africa DR Congo 0-0 (6-5) semi-finals Nigeria South Africa 1-1 (pen: 4-2) Ivory Coast Congo 1-0 quarter-finals Nigeria Angola 1-0 Congo Guinea 3-1 Cape Verde South Africa 0-0 (pen: 1-2) Mali Ivory Coast 1-1 (NV: 1-2) 1/8th finals Angola Namibia 3-0 Nigeria Cameroon 2-0 Equatorial Guinea Guinea 0 -1 Egypt Congo 1-1 (7-8 after pen.) Cape Verde Mauritania 1-0 Senegal Ivory Coast 1-1 (4-5 after pen.) Mali Burkina Faso 2-1 Morocco South Africa 0-2
Africa Cup of Nations 2023: group stage
results group A Ivory Coast Guinea-Bissau 2-0 Nigeria Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Equatorial Guinea Guinea-Bissau 4-2 Ivory Coast Nigeria 0-1 Equatorial Guinea Ivory Coast 4-0 Guinea-Bissau Nigeria 0-1 standings in group A M W G V +/- pts 1. Equatorial Guinea 3 2 1 0 9-3 7 2. Nigeria 3 2 1 0 3-1 7 3. Ivory Coast 3 1 0 2 2-5 3 4. Guinea-Bissau 3 0 0 3 2-7 0 results group B Egypt Mozambique 2-2 Ghana Cape Verde 1-2 Egypt Ghana 2-2 Cape Verde Mozambique 3-0 Mozambique Ghana 2-2 Cape Verde Egypt 2-2 score in group B M W G V +/- pts 1. Cape Verde 3 2 0 0 7-3 7 2 . Egypt 3 0 3 0 6-6 3 3. Ghana 3 0 2 1 5-6 2 4. Mozambique 3 0 2 1 4-7 2 program group C Senegal Gambia 3-0 Cameroon Guinea 1-1 Senegal Cameroon 3-1 Guinea Gambia 1-0 Guinea Senegal 0-2 Gambia Cameroon 2-3 standings in group C M W G V +/- pts 1. Senegal 3 3 0 0 8-1 9 2. Cameroon 3 1 1 1 5-6 4 3. Guinea 3 1 1 1 2-3 4 4. Gambia 3 0 0 3 2-7 0 program group D Algeria Angola 1-1 Burkina Faso Mauritania 1-0 Algeria Burkina Faso 2-2 Mauritania Angola 2-3 Angola Burkina Faso 2-0 Mauritania Algeria 1-0 score in group D M W G V +/- pts 1. Angola 3 2 1 0 6-3 7 2. Burkina Faso 3 1 1 1 3-4 4 3. Mauritania 3 1 0 2 3-4 3 4. Algeria 3 0 2 1 3-4 2 program group E Tunisia Namibia 0-1 Mali South Africa 2-0 Tunisia Mali 1-1 South Africa Namibia 4-0 South Africa Tunisia 0-0 Namibia Mali 0-0 standings in group E M W G V + /- pts 1. Mali 3 1 2 0 3-1 5 2. South Africa 3 1 1 1 4-2 4 3. Namibia 3 1 1 1 1-4 4 4. Tunisia 3 0 2 1 1-2 2 program group F Morocco Tanzania 3-0 DR Congo Zambia 1-1 Morocco DR Congo 1-1 Zambia Tanzania 1-1 Tanzania DR Congo 0-0 Zambia Morocco 0-1 standings in group F M W G V +/- pts 1. Morocco 3 2 1 0 5-1 7 2. DR Congo 3 0 3 0 2-2 3 3. Zambia 3 0 2 1 2-3 2 4. Tanzania 3 0 2 1 1-4 2
The top 2 and the best four numbers 3 from the 6 groups advance to the 1/8th finals.
2024-06-03 13:32:49
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