U20 AFCON: Basinga’s Heroics Fall Short As Tunisia Beat Congo 5-4 On Penalties

Congo Republic backed by rising star Deo Basinga fell out 5-4 on penalties to Tunisia after a six goal thriller in the last of four quarter-final fixture at the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Red Devils of Congo have stopped at the quarter-final. They were taken out under duress by Tunisia at the Cairo international stadium. In a match with many twists and turns, Congo resisted until the penalty shootout.

Congo Republic was marshalled by Déo Bassinga who scored a hat-trick. He opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Tunisia equalised in the 37th minute thanks to Jibril Othman. It is with the score of 1-1 that the two teams were sent back to the locker room.

In the second half, Tunisia took the lead for the first time in the match thanks to Samy Chouchane (76′). Déo Bassinga drew the team’s level via a penalty in the 80th minute and both teams entered extra time. In the first period, the Basinga restored the advantage to his team for the second time in the match in the 101st minute of play. However, Tunisia pulled parity again in the 119th minute of play thanks to Ali Saoudi, which sent the game to the lottery of penalties.

Congo failed to find the net twice in the post match penalties. The North Africans went on to win 5 shots against Congo’s 4. Tunisia sail through to the semi-finals and qualifies for the next World Cup in Indonesia.