Defending champions Algeria have been eliminated from the group stages of the African Cup of Nations after losing their last game 3-1 to Ivory Coast.

The Fennec Foxes were one of the favorites to win the tournament owing to their status as defending champions and their impressive unbeaten run which dates back to 2018.

The Algerians further strengthened their credibility as they defeated the Black Stars of Ghana 3-0 in a pre tournament friendly.

However, they were unable to reproduce a high standard performance in the competition as they crashed out with just a single point.

Algeria drew with Sierra Leone before before losing to both Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in their second and third games respectively.

Algeria thus finished last in their group behind Ivory Coast who had seven points, Equatorial Guinea who secured six points and Sierra Leone who gained two points.

Alongside Ghana, the Foxes are one of the top teams to have crashed out of the group stages of this year’s competition.