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Mauritania Stuns, Ghana Stunned, Cape Verde & Angola Soar | #AFCON2023’s Key Moments So Far
Cape Verde’s Gilson Tavares celebrates his goal against Egypt in their final group game on Monday
The group stages of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations has been one of the most entertaining and enjoyable in recent history. According to fans, this has been one of their favourite editions of the tournament. The reason is not far-fetched.
From Mauritania’s incredible journey to Cape Verde’s group win, to the late-minute drama, incredible officiating, and giant-killing teams, the competition has maintained, so far, a strong and positive atmosphere and given everyone, even neutrals, something to cheer for.
A while back, we predicted eight teams that would go all the way, and as the competition lives up to its unpredictable nature, two out of the eight predicted countries have been knocked out of the group stage and one of the teams narrowly made it to the knockout stages.
Gearing up for the knockout stages, the competition had some very inspiring performances and memorable moments in the group stages. We look at a few of these moments below:
Mauritania’s First AFCON Win
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Mauritania’s journey to the knockout stages of their third AFCON has not been very rosy. The country, which only qualified for its first AFCON tournament in 2019, has had to work hard and set up structures to get to this point in its journey.
For their first-ever AFCON win, Mauritania beat 2019 champions Algeria. Mohamed Dellahi scored in 37 minutes, and incredibly, that was the first time the underdogs ever led in an African Cup of Nations match. The result would see them qualify for the knockout stages and set up a tasty match with fellow giant killers Cape Verde.
Ghana vs. Mozambique
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One of the many incredible games from the group stages of the tournament, the Black Stars of Ghana entered the final group game against Mozambique on the back of disappointing performances and needing a win to progress. Jordan Ayew’s 15th-minute and 70th-minute penalties looked to set Ghana on course to a knockout stage appearance, but the Mozambicans had other plans. Two stoppage-time goals from Geny Catamo and Reinaldo Mandava left Ghana on the brink of elimination and the nation in anger. Egypt and group leaders Cape Verde played out a pulsating 2-2 draw, and the result put Egypt at 3 points. 1 point above Ghana’s paltry 2 points.
Any mathematical hope that the Black Stars had of progressing was dashed by the results from the other group matches. The performance of the team also led to the sack of team coach, Chris Hughton.
Look out for the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde!
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When the draws for the Group B teams were announced, any football fan would be forgiven for putting Egypt and Ghana ahead of Cape Verde in terms of qualifying for the next round. The Blue Sharks have not only re-emphasised the unpredictable nature of the AFCON, they have gone through to the knockout stages of the tournament unbeaten after topping their group with 7 points.
Bubista, the coach of Cape Verde, was bullish after their group stage showing. He said, “We are no longer going to move in disguise. The objective is clear. We are aiming for the last four in this competition. We are showing the world that we will have to count Cape Verde in this AFCON as one of the best-performing teams. No matter who our opponent is, we are not afraid of anyone, and we will do everything to achieve this goal.” Beating Ghana and holding Egypt to a draw is not a mean feat because they have only qualified for the AFCON four times.
They have a rightful claim to their current status as one of the favourites now, and their match against Mauritania is certainly one to look forward to.
Egypt Sneaks Into the Round of 16
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The Pharaohs of Egypt went into Match Day 3 without their captain, Mohammed Salah, and needed to best Ghana’s result against Mozambique in the other group game.
The seven-time AFCON champions had managed two 2-2 draws in their first two matches, and what followed was an AFCON classic. Egypt fell behind to a Tavares strike in added time of the first half and entered the second half with Ghana already up by 1-0 in the other game. Trézéguet equalised in the 50th minute. They needed another goal to seal their qualification. The game continued; Ghana had doubled their lead, and a win was the only way to save Egypt from an embarrassing group stage exit.
Mostafa Mohamed thought he had saved his team’s blushes when he sent his nation into delirium with a 93rd-minute goal. The Blue Sharks, who had qualified for the next round, were not too keen on losing their unbeaten streak. Up steps Teixeira Jr. in the 9th minute of added time to equalise the score and momentarily put Egypt on the brink. The Egyptian players were distraught. They couldn’t believe what had happened.
The drama wasn’t over. In the other game, Mozambique scored two stoppage-time goals to bring the score level. The announcement of the full-time results of the Ghana vs. Mozambique game sparked a wild celebration from the Egyptian players and their supporters. They had just made it through by the skin of their teeth.
Officiating
Another interesting part of the tournament has been the impressive performances of the on-field referees and the VAR team. While football as a sport can be fraught with controversy and challenges that many fans have reluctantly seen as part of the game, the 2023 AFCON has been pretty successful in its efforts to be free from controversy.
There haven’t been many complaints about the level of officiating in the tournament, and the tournament hasn’t made the news for controversial or mind-boggling decisions. Games have been played at a fluid tempo, players have been protected from dangerous fouls, correct decisions have been taken on penalties and offside goals, the competition has maintained its physical reputation, and the VAR decisions haven’t taken too much time to be reached. Experts have applauded the lack of controversy in the tournament and have even called for other continents to learn from the example set by CAF.
The Rise of Emilio Nsue and Equatorial Guinea.
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Emilio Nsue has been a revelation in this year’s tournament. The striker, who plays as a right back for the Spanish club Club de Fútbol Intercity, leads the line for his country, Equatorial Guinea.
Emilio bagged the first hat trick of the tournament and the first hat trick of the competition since 2008. Emilio scored the hat-trick when Equatorial Guinea defeated Guinea-Bissau 4-2 in the second game of the group stage.
Equatorial Guinea’s outing at this year’s tournament has been impressive. They held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw and trounced host and two-time champion Ivory Coast 4-0. Emilio Nsue scored a brace in the game against Ivory Coast. Going into the tournament, they were one of the underdogs in the tournament. They are now one of the teams to beat.
15 – Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue has scored the first @caf_online AFCON hat-trick in 15 years, 362 days, since Soufiane Alloudi did so for Morocco against Namibia in January 2008. Rarity. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 https://t.co/HZw71lVxwg pic.twitter.com/Inmdj7xpMP
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 18, 2024
Ivory Coast’s Narrow Escape
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Going into the tournament as hosts and with their impressive history in the tournament, Ivory Coast were tipped as one of the favourites. After a somewhat impressive start in their first game, the Elephants fell to a disappointing one-nil defeat against Nigeria and an embarrassing 4-0 loss against Equatorial Guinea in front of their fans. The performances led to the sack of the team’s head coach Jean Louis Gasset. The Ivorians managed to qualify as one of the fourth 3rd best placed teams in the competition. They however have to face the Teranga Lions of Senegal for a place in the quarterfinals.
According to reports, Emerse Fae will step in as an interim coach for their next game.
Angola Tops Group D
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The Black Antelopes of Angola have been one of the interesting teams to follow in this tournament. They held 2019 champions Algeria to a 1-1 draw in their opening game and then beat Mauritania and Burkina Faso to seal the top spot in Group D. This is the first time the Angola team has won two group stage matches in nine AFCON editions.
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