Heavyweights have been demystified, and a surety is that no less than three groups ranked outdoors the highest 10 might be within the quarterfinals.
The 36 video games within the group part got here to a detailed on Wednesday, 25 January, and it was a season of heavyweight knockdowns, a bunch in qualification jeopardy, one other black day in Ghana’s soccer historical past, and the malaise of the North African groups.
The 36 group encounters produced 89 objectives, and there have been no scoreless outcomes till the final group part video games. A mean of two.47 objectives per sport is a superb output, contemplating the warmth and low humidity in Cote d’Ivoire.
The group part resulted in 5 coaches dropping or resigning their jobs. Essentially the most high-profile have been the coaches of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire; Chris Hughton and Jean-Louis Gasset have been dismissed, whereas Tam Sainfiet, Djamel Belmadi, and Jalel Kadri of The Gambia, Algeria, and Tunisia, respectively, resigned from their posts.
The fixtures for the spherical of 16 are additionally mouth-watering, and the thrill ranges will proceed to rise because the groups are whittled down.
Heavyweights are knocked out
5-time winners Ghana collapsed on the final minute towards Mozambique and crashed out. The very best margin of defeat honour went to the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire and Namibia, whereas former champions, Algeria and Tunisia, had the ignominy of ending backside of their teams.
Of all of the famed No. 9s on the event, it’s 34-year-old Emiliano Nsue from Equatorial Guinea who leads the scorers’ chart with 5 objectives. Nsue, who’s registered as a midfielder and typically performs as a right-back for Spanish third-division facet CF Intercity, additionally scored the primary hat-trick within the event since Soufiane Alloudi towards Namibia in 2008.
North Africans really feel warmth
4 North African groups got here to the 2023 AFCON, and all are within the prime 5 African groups, however two fell abysmally on the group stage, whereas the Pharaohs of Egypt (5) went by means of to the spherical of 16 with three factors, garnered from three attracts.
Successfully, what has taken the Egyptians by means of is Mohamed Salah’s 97th-minute penalty towards Mozambique on Matchday 1.
Algeria (4), the 2019 champions, got here final in Group D with two factors, and so they have been overwhelmed by the Twenty second-ranked Mauritania, the first-ever AFCON event win for the islanders. Tunisia (3) additionally got here final of their group, dropping to Namibia (27) on Matchday 1.
Morocco (1) are nonetheless the agency favourites and have confirmed their standing with two wins and a attract Group E. Hakim Ziyech is the unlikely toast of Cote d’Ivoire as a result of he scored the one purpose of the sport towards Zambia, which instigated the Elephants’ qualification to the spherical of 16.
Minnows are having their day in solar
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Who would have wager on each Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde as group winners? Who would have thought that the likes of Mauritania and Namibia, greatest identified for holidays, would upset the apple cart and ship the horses scampering? AFCON 2023 has been plagued by thrilling and stunning moments, and the prayer is for it to proceed into the extra cautious knockout rounds.
Spherical of 16 fixtures
Nigeria (6) vs. Cameroon (7)
Namibia (27) vs. Angola (28)
Mali (6) vs. Burkina Faso (10)
Senegal (2) vs. Cote d’Ivoire (8)
Morocco (1) vs. South Africa (12)
Cape Verde (14) vs. Mauritania (22)
Egypt (5) vs. DR Congo (13)
Equatorial Guinea (18) vs. Guinea (15)
These matchups look even on paper and are uncanny of their preparations. The 2 fixtures that function a big disparity within the rating of the groups are the clashes between Morocco and South Africa and perhaps Egypt versus DR Congo. All of the others are between shut contenders, utilizing the final FIFA rating desk, launched final December.
A surety is that three groups ranked outdoors the highest 10 might be within the quarterfinals.
