Guinea bowed out of the 2018 Africa Nations Championship with heads held high in Marrakech on Sunday, playing with style and belief to beat Mauritania 1-0 in final Group A match.

Horoya AC midfielder Ibrahim Sankhon scored the only goal of the game in the 15th minute of the game and was named Man-of-the-Match.

Mauritania created a handful of scoring opportunities winning the ball in midfield, however their display in the final third and in front of goal let them down.

Guinea goalkeeper El Hassen profited from poor first touches from Mauritania forwards as he rushed off his goal line to clear the ball a few times.

Hassen was subjected to tamed shots from Mauritania allowing him to make easy saves.

At the other end of the pitch Nabby Camara produced a cross after a corner kick that found Ibrahim Sankhon, but his header went over the Mauritania bar.

Both sides missed a few more shots before the interval as they went into the dressing room with Guinea leading 1-0.

Guinea kept the pressure on Mauritania in the second half in search of a second goal. Mauritania went on the attack in the last 20 minutes of the game playing their best football.

Moulayeahmed Khalil came close to scoring as he shot from outside the box, but his attempt was just too high.

El Hassen was unshaken in goal for Guinea as he made superb saves to deny Mauritania the equaliser.

Guinea and Mauritania were eliminated from the tournament after they finished in third and fourth place respectively.

Line-ups:

Mauritania: Souleyamane; Diaw (Lembrabott 82′), Traore (Wade 86′), Mangane, N’Gara, Dellahi, Teguedi (Gueye 75′), Diop, Khalil, Bagili, Tanjy.

Guinea: Kante; Aleseny Bangoura, Fernandez (D.Camara 52′), Landel, Sylla, A.Camara, Sankhon, D.Bangoura (Thiam 78′), Saliou Camara, A.Camara, Seydouba Camara (Barry 90+2′).