The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations has been an unexpected kind of tournament, as football enthusiasts are currently witnessing massive surprises in every round.
The tie between the Bafana Bafana of South Africa and the Atlas Lions of Morocco, in which the Moroccans were beaten, means none of the top 5 ranked African Nations made it beyond the round of 16 – a testament depicting the unpredictable nature of AFCON.
Morocco, who ranks 13th in the World and first in Africa following their transcendent performance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the first African nations to ever reach the last four, were put into absolute disappointment last night after losing to South Africa by 2-0 at full-time and failing to reach the quarter-finals round.
Defending Champions Senegal were another victim of a poor run in the 2023 tournament. The Teranga Lions lost to the host nation (via penalty shoot out)who made it to the knock-out round as one of the best losers. Côte d’Ivoire held Senegal to a 1-1 full-time draw and progress to the last eight following their resplendent penalty kicks.
Tunisia who exceeded this round during the previous tournament after a 1-0 victory over the Super Eagles of Nigeria, unfortunately, finished at the bottom of group E below Mali, South Africa and Namibia.
Algeria came last in their group, finishing up with just two points adrift Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania in group D. Algeria were crowned champions in the 2019 edition of the tournament.
Seven-time winner Egypt drew all their group games with the same score lines of 2-2, they made it to the knock-out round—finishing as runner-up to Cape Verde who topped the group with 7 points. Although, many believed the injury Mohamed Salah suffered, played a massive role in their poor run in the knock-out stage where they lost to Dr. Congo.
Nigeria will lock horns against Angola on Friday in the evening by 5pm. As well DR. Congo will seek to reach the last four when they battle Guinea by 9pm.
The next day being Saturday, Mali will go into a vigorous encounter with the host Côte d’Ivoire by 5 pm. The final game of this round will be between Bafana Bafana and Cape Verde by 9pm.
