BVB striker the matchwinner, Guirassy rescues Guinea | OneFootball

Guinea was neither in the thick of things nor even involved in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The West African nation had already failed in the qualifiers. For 2027, Serhou Guirassy & Co. are planning their comeback.

Guinea has still never won a title at this tournament. The best result in the federation’s history dates back to 1976, when the team finished as runners-up. In the four-team final group at the time, only tournament winners Morocco collected more points.

The Syli National have at least reached the quarter-finals five times – most recently in 2024. At the most recent Africa Cup of Nations, held across the 2025/26 year-end period, Guinea was left watching from the sidelines. In qualifying, they finished only third behind DR Congo and Tanzania and were eliminated early.

Last Saturday (26 September), Guinea began the preliminary qualifiers for the tournament set to take place in the summer of 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. However, Paulo Duarte’s side (57) made a poor start. In South Africa, Guinea lost 2–1 in their opening group match. Guirassy played the full 90 minutes but was unable to prevent the defeat.

Crucial clash against South Africa

That meant Guinea were already under serious pressure in their second match against Kenya on Thursday (1 October). Guirassy led the team out as captain – and emerged as the match-winner. In their long-awaited return to the Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry after more than four years of stadium renovation, the Guinea national team could not afford another mistake after their opening defeat.

That the scoreboard ultimately showed a 1–0 win for Guinea was due in no small part to the 30-year-old BVB professional. In the 32nd minute, Guirassy scored the decisive goal of the day, delighting Guinea’s fans with a precise right-footed strike. It was his 12th goal in his 30th international appearance.

Photo: IMAGO

Thanks to this first win, Guinea temporarily climbs to second place in Group D, directly behind South Africa, and keeps its qualification hopes alive. Kenya, meanwhile, drops to third place with one point, ahead of Eritrea.

As co-host Kenya has already qualified automatically, only one other team from this group will still qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. In November, Guinea will face Eritrea twice in the third and fourth rounds of the preliminary qualifiers – two must-win matches for Guirassy’s team. In the fifth round, the Syli National will host South Africa in what will likely be the decisive showdown.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.