Author of five goals during the group stage, Equatorial Guinea captain Emilio Nsué is still the top scorer in the competition before the semi-finals, despite the elimination of Nzalang in the round of 16. Only the Nigerian Ademola Lookman still seems able to take the title from him.
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Football is a team sport which often tends to highlight individualities. The ranking of the top scorers is often closely scrutinized and CAN 2024 is no exception.
For the moment, Emilio Nsué, despite the elimination of Equatorial Guinea by Guinea in the round of 16, is still first in the ranking. And few of his pursuers are still in the running.
Read alsoFind the table for the final phase of CAN 2024
Émilio Nsué, top scorer?
The top scorer of the CAN (before the semi-finals) plays in 3e Spanish division: Equatorial Guinean Emilio Nsue, aged 34, leads the way with five goals scored in four matches.
A hat-trick against Guinea-Bissau (4-2) and a double against Ivory Coast (4-0) allowed the striker and captain to get ahead of his competitors with a more prestigious pedigree than his own. .
In an interview with France 24, he made it a personal objective. There is no doubt that he would have preferred it to be by taking Equatorial Guinea further in the competition, but the lead taken could prove sufficient.
Ademola Lookman, only competitor?
Indeed, his direct pursuers, the Angolan Gelson Dala and the Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed, who scored four goals each, are already eliminated. Same observation for five of the six players to have scored three goals, Baghdad Bounedjah (Algeria), Mabululu (Angola), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Mohamed Bayo (Guinea), Lassine Sinayoko (Mali).
Read alsoNigeria, DR Congo, Ivory Coast and South Africa: a throne for four at CAN 2024
That leaves Ademola Lookman. After a goalless group stage, the Nigeria striker is back strong in the rankings. He scored twice in the round of 16 against Cameroon, then the winning goal against Angola in the quarterfinals. And he still has two matches to play with the semi-final on Wednesday February 7, then the small or grand final. He will need to score two goals to equalize Nsué’s score and thus surpass him. Indeed, in the event of a tie, it is the number of assists offered to a teammate which is the deciding factor.
Two other competitors could join the fight for the Golden Boot of the competition: Themba Zwane (South Africa) and Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), who both scored two goals. However, it would take at least three goals for the first to overtake Emilio Nsué thanks to his assist, and four for the second.
Read alsoThe program for the CAN 2024 semi-finals
The complete ranking
5 goals :
1. Emilio Nsue Lopez, Equatorial Guinea
4 goals:
2. Mostafa Mohamed, Egypt
Gelson Dala, Angola
3 goals:
4. Ademola Lookman, Nigeria
Baghdad Bounedjah, Algeria
Mabululu, Angola
Lassine Sinayoko, Mali
Bertrand Traoré, Burkina Faso
Mohamed Bayo, Guinea
2 goals:
10. Themba Zwane, South Africa
Mohammed Kudus, Ghana
Yoane Wissa, DR Congo
Jordan Ayew, Ghana
Ryan Mendes, Cape Verde
Lamine Camara, Senegal
Habib Diallo, Senegal
