Equatorial Guinea captain Emilio Nsue emerged as the top scorer at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, despite his side crashing out in the last 16.
Nsue netted five goals in just three games to win the Golden Boot, despite the Nzalang Nacional failing to progress further.
The forward made a blistering start, hitting the tournament’s first hat-trick against Guinea Bissau.
He then scored twice more in a historic 4-0 humbling of hosts Cote d’Ivoire to finish as leading marksman.
Nsue’s exploits join a prestigious list of previous AFCON top scorers, including Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Odion Ighalo.
Yet his goals could not inspire Equatorial Guinea beyond the second round, where they lost 1-0 to Senegal.
Angola’s Jacinto Dala pushed him closest in the scoring charts, netting four times before his side lost to Nigeria.
But Nsue stood alone with five goals total despite playing only three matches. His goals per game ratio of 1.67 underlined his lethal touch.
Had Equatorial Guinea progressed further, Nsue may have contested more illustrious scoring records.
