MATCH STATS: Tanzania face Côte d’Ivoire in decisive Group B clash

Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire have their WAFCON destiny in their own hands when they meet in their final Group B match at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Tuesday, 4 August, with kick-off at 21h00 local time (20h00 GMT). Victory will send either side into the quarter-finals, though Tanzania will finish as group winners only if Burkina Faso fail to defeat South Africa. A draw guarantees Côte d’Ivoire progression and would also be enough for Tanzania if Burkina Faso lose to South Africa.

Match Facts

• This will be the first meeting between Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire at WAFCON.

• Victory will send either side into the quarter-finals, though Tanzania will finish as group winners only if Burkina Faso fail to defeat South Africa. 

• A draw guarantees Côte d’Ivoire progression and would also be enough for Tanzania if Burkina Faso lose to South Africa.

• Tanzania are facing West African opposition for the sixth time, having previously played Mali twice and Nigeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso once each.

• Tanzania have lost all five of their previous WAFCON matches against West African opposition.

• Côte d’Ivoire are facing East African opposition for the second time.

• Their only previous meeting with an East African side was against Ethiopia in their opening group game in 2012.

• The Ivorians defeated Ethiopia 5-0, with Inès N’Rehy scoring a hat-trick. 

Tanzania – Key Statistics

• Tanzania lost 2-1 to Burkina Faso in their previous match after defeating South Africa by the same scoreline in their opening game.

• They have conceded in all eight of their WAFCON matches.

• Tanzania have scored in their last four games at the finals—their final two matches at the last edition and both games at the current tournament.

• This is their longest run of scoring in successive WAFCON matches.

• Tanzania have scored in both of their group games and have never previously found the net in all three matches at the same edition.

• They have never won their final group game, losing 3-0 to Nigeria in 2010 and 4-1 to Ghana at the last edition.

• Tanzania have lost both of their previous final group games by a three-goal margin.

• Progression would see Tanzania become only the second East African nation to advance beyond the group stage, after Ethiopia in 2004.

• Tanzania had 54% of the possession in their defeat to Burkina Faso.

• They managed only two shots on target.

• Aisha Mnunka scored their goal against Burkina Faso, finding the net with her only shot on target.

• Goalkeeper Najiati Abass Idrissa made five saves against Burkina Faso and has recorded 13 across her two appearances, having made eight against South Africa.

• Idrissa has saved 81% of the shots she has faced at the current tournament.

• Hasnath Ubamba was sent off in the defeat to Burkina Faso, the first Tanzania player to receive a red card at the current finals.

• This is the second successive WAFCON edition at which Tanzania have had a player dismissed. They were also reduced to 10 players in their 1-1 draw with South Africa at the last tournament. 

Côte d’Ivoire – Key Statistics

• Côte d’Ivoire have made their best start to a WAFCON campaign, defeating Burkina Faso in their opening game before drawing with South Africa.

• They will progress to the quarter-finals with a draw.

• Côte d’Ivoire previously reached the knockout stage in 2014, when they went on to finish third. 

• They have scored six goals in their opening two matches, their joint-highest tally at this stage of a WAFCON campaign, along with 2012.

• One more goal would equal the most they have scored during the group stage at a single edition, having netted seven in 2012.

• Côte d’Ivoire scored eight goals across the 2014 tournament, their highest total at a WAFCON finals.

• Should they avoid defeat, they will complete a WAFCON group stage unbeaten for the first time.

• They lost their second and third group games in 2012 and were beaten in their opening match in 2014.

• Côte d’Ivoire have never won their final group game, losing 3-1 to Nigeria in 2012 and drawing 1-1 with Zambia in 2014. 

• They are unbeaten in their last four group games, recording two wins and two draws.

• That sequence began with a victory over Namibia and a draw against Zambia in 2014, before a win over Burkina Faso and a draw with South Africa at the current tournament.

• Côte d’Ivoire are on a three-game unbeaten run overall, beginning with their third-place play-off victory over South Africa in 2014 and continuing with their two matches at the current edition.

• They have conceded at least once in each of their last seven group games.

• Their only WAFCON group-stage clean sheet came in the 5-0 win over Ethiopia in their opening game in 2012.

• Côte d’Ivoire surrendered a 2-0 lead in their 2-2 draw with South Africa.

• It was the third time they had held a two-goal advantage in a WAFCON match, but the first occasion on which they failed to win. They defeated Ethiopia in 2012 and Namibia in 2014 on the previous two occasions.

• Grace Serri scored twice against South Africa, becoming the second Ivorian to net a brace at the current finals after Akissi Konan against Burkina Faso.

• Serri scored with both of her shots on target, which were Côte d’Ivoire’s only two efforts on target in the match.

• Both of their shots on target came in the first half, and they failed to register one after the break.

• Nsira Ouedraogo provided both assists against South Africa.

• She has three assists at the current tournament, having also set up a goal against Burkina Faso on matchday one.

• Ouedraogo has four goal involvements, with one goal and three assists, the most by an Ivorian player at the current finals.