that aimed to qualify for the first time since 2012. Despite this, Equatorial Guinea produced an outstanding comeback against Libya in Egypt, beating Libya 3–2 with two late goals by Pedro Obiang and Salomón Obama from being led 1–2 until injury times. The Nzalang Nacional later hosted the same opponent at home, and like their game in Cairo, the Equatorial Guineans won again, 1–0, by virtual goal from Iban Salvador. After beating Tanzania 1–0 on home soil, Equatorial Guinea managed a historic feat throughout regular qualification for the first time ever in its history. During AFCON 2021, the National Thunder were drawn in group E, alongside Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Algeria. Equatorial Guinea lost their opening match against Ivory Coast, but produced one of the tournament's surprised when they defeated trophy holders Algeria in their second match. In their final match of the group, they defeated Sierra Leone and qualified for the round of 16, coming in second in the group, after Ivory Coast. In the round of 16, Equatorial Guinea was drawn against Mali, the winners of group F. The game ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes and went to deciding penalties, where the Nzalang Nacional won the shoot-out 6–5 thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Jesús Owono, who managed to save two of the shots. The result meant that the national team qualified for the quarter finals of AFCON for the third time in their history (the first one advancing from the round of 16). They subsequently lost to eventual champions Senegal, 3-1. Naturalised players controversy In recent years, Equatorial Guinea has courted controversy by recruiting foreign players and giving them citizenship despite having little or no ties to the country. In 2009, South African journalist and FIFA archivist Mark Gleeson wrote that it was undermining the integrity of African football. In late 2005, and at the request of Ruslán Obiang Nsue, a son of President Teodoro Obiang, Brazilian coach Antônio Dumas recruited several Brazilian players to represent the Equatorial Guinea but the CAF and FIFA turned a blind eye, despite complaints from other nations. In 2012, having lost the first leg of a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification round 4–0 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea recruited nine Brazilian players to help overturn the deficit for the second leg. The team did manage to win the match 2–1, but it