Ivory Coast slipped to the brink of a humiliating exit from the African Cup of Nations as the hosts suffered a 4-0 thrashing by Equatorial Guinea in their final Group A game on Monday.
Emilio Nsue scored a double to follow up his hattrick against Guinea-Bissau as Equatorial Guinea finished top of the group ahead of Nigeria on goal difference.
Ivory Coast have only failed to get out of the group phase once in the previous nine editions of the tournament, in 2017.
With three points on the board, the two-time champions will have to endure a nervy wait to find out if they will go through to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed sides.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s men need a series of results to go in their favour to avoid sliding out of the competition, after suffering their heaviest ever home defeat.
In Group B on Monday, Cape Verde and Egypt booked their places in the knockouts, with Ghana in an even worse position than Ivory Coast after finishing in third place with two points.
In tonight’s action, the group stage comes to a close with teams from Group E and F in action.
In Group E, leaders Mali take on third-placed Namibia, while South Africa play Tunisia (both matches at 7pm) with all four teams still in the race for the play-offs and three points separating top from bottom Tunisia.
Group F will also go down to the wire at 10pm when Tanzania (in last place on one point) and Congo (second on two), while third-placed Zambia (two points) clash with log leaders Morocco (four points).