Sunday, January 14, 2024, will go down in the books as one of the upsets in the context of the Africa Cup of Nations, with three giants faltering in the hands of supposed minnows.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria forced Equatorial Guinea to a 1-1 draw, while Mohammed Salah’s Egypt needed a VAR intervention at the death to force Mozambique to a 2-2 draw, while the Sharks of Cape Verde dimmed the Black Stars of Ghana in the final game of the day.

In the opening stages of the game, Nigeria displayed all the promise but was stunned by a sleek strike from Iban Salvador in the 36th minute. Salvador jabbed home the ball, wrongfooting the Nigerian goalkeeper after receiving it from Jose Marchin.

The Super Eagles responded immediately, and many thought they were going to take things up from there, but it was a show of frustration. Victor Osimhen headed home from Ademola Lookman’s byline cross to level straight from kickoff, with Nigeria dominating the rest of the half.

The National Thunder impressed early in the second half with their passes sticking, but Nigeria soon overwhelmed them. Yussuf Al Hassan in the Nigerian midfield orchestrated things, but his game ended prematurely after he picked up an injury and was replaced with Joe Aribo.

Osimhen missed a glorious chance to make it 2-1 after racing through on goal; his effort went wide, and the opposing goalkeeper, Owono, also stopped a couple of chances in a man-of-the-match performance in the game that eventually ended 1-1.

Egypt took an early lead in their game against Mozambique, with Mostafa Mohammed scoring in the second minute, but the Mozambicans stunned them with two goals in the space of ten minutes in the second half.

It took a last-gasp penalty for the seven-time champions to level after the referee had to consult the VAR to hand Mohammed Salah the opportunity to equalize. The game ended 2-2, with Mozambique feeling sorry for a game they were close to winning.

Ghana didn’t have a good story to tell; the Black Stars lost to Cape Verde 2-1, with the Sharks thoroughly deserving their crown. Cape Verde took the lead in the first half, but Ghana equalized from a corner kick in the second half. Garry Rodrigues stunned Ghana with a stoppage-time tap-in to hand Cape Verde the leadership spot in Group B.