Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau Prediction: AFCON 2023 Curtain Raiser

Guinea-Bissau will line up next to the two time Africa Cup of Nations Champions the Ivory Coast. There is always a lot of pressure on the hosts of any international competition to impress and make the nation proud. The last time the Ivory Coast were champions of Africa was in 2015 when Yaya Touré was at the peak of his powers and Ivory Coast’s main man.

Here are markets to consider adding to your bet slip...

Côte d’Ivoire vs Guinea-Bissau Match Odds 

The hosts will be looking to start off on a good note, and only a win will do for them. Recent editions of the Africa Cup of Nations have not been what Côte d’Ivoire would have wanted them to be. Especially taking into consideration the class of footballers they have had at their disposal in recent times. In the previous edition of this competition, they had Nicolas Pepe, Sebastien Haller, Franck Kessie, Eric Bailly and Serge Aurier on the pitch wearing the famous orange kit. Not to mention Wilfred Zaha who chose to represent Côte d’Ivoire over the Three lions.

Guinea-Bissau is an ever-present team in the Africa Cup of Nations. They have featured in every edition since 2017. They are still to exit a group in their history, and they will be hoping this generation of players can be the first to achieve that. they sit in a group that features African giants Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and of course the hosts Côte d’Ivoire. To be the team that goes against the hosts on day one can be quite a challenge. Guinea-Bissau will have to wear their hearts on their sleeves and give it their all if they are to walk away with a result in this one.

The odds of an upset are sitting at 14/1. If the hosts are to walk away with all their points, the odds on them doing just that are setting at 21/100 and 21/5 for a draw between these two sides.

Total Goals & Both Teams to Score – Over 2,5 & No 23/10

This match is a classic David versus Goliath epic. FIFA Rank Côte d’Ivoire t 49th in the world and Guinea-Bissau at 103. To put that into context they are not even the highest ranked Guinea, that goes to Guinea ranked 80 in the world. to expect an upset is difficult when considering those stats and the information provided by the Betfred Websites sporting statistics page. 

This Côte d’Ivoire side has been finding the back of the net with ease lately. They put 5 past the Seirra Leone on the 6th of January 2024. They put 9 goals past the Seychelles in November of 2023. Guinea-Bissau on the 6th of January 2024 conceded 6 goals to Mali. That was their last international match ahead of this continental show pieces kicking off on the 13th of January 2024.  

It is with that in mind that we have opted to add Total Goals & Both Teams to Score – Over 2,5 & No 23/10 into our prediction for this match. The hosts will be looking to impress and make their fans proud.  

HT-FT - Draw/Home 23/10 

We expect that both teams will have a slow start. That includes in the goal creation department. It will be cagy in the first half, but the game will open in the second half as the players tired and the coaches influenced the game with substitutions. impact players from the bench will make the difference. The market we recommend having as part of your bet slip is HT-FT Draw/Home 23/10.