Five-time African champions, Cameroon recorded a stunning 3-2 win over The Gambia to book their place in the knockout stages against rivals, Nigeria. Rigobert Song’s side scored to late goals to finish behind defending champions, Senegal and will face the Super Eagles on Saturday in a repeat of the 2019 round of 16 clash which the Nigerian side won 3-2. Both African powerhouses have eight Africa Cup of Nations titles between them and will renew their decades-long rivalry once again.
The 2023 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations has lived up to its billing with the display of entertaining football, crunch tackles, great goals, stunning comebacks and the minnows stepping up to the challenge. The competition thus far has been littered with unprecedented upsets, remarkable recoveries and fairytale victories, which is seemingly a norm now than a rarity. The fairytale rise of some minnows and mid-level teams – Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Mauritania – in the competition is simply stunning and makes football the most entertaining sport in history.
African football minnows, Mauritania stunned the continent by pulling off a remarkable 1 nil win over powerhouses, Algeria to record a historic maiden win at the tournament. More impressive for the North-Western African country, the result sends them through to the next round against all odds. Mauritania’s coach, Amir Abdou is gradually making a name for himself having previously guided debutants, Comoros to a round of 16 qualification at the expense of Ghana at the 2021 AFCON and has now led Mauritania to a historic maiden win at the Africa Cup of Nations and in to the knockout stages.
The historic feat is a recurring decimal at this year’s edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, where the minnows pull off historic wins in stunning upsets to the delight of their home fans and neutrals. Mauritania will trade tackles with another surprise package, Cape Verde in the round of 16 and while they go into the contest as the underdogs, another huge upset cannot be ruled out. While the North-Western nation celebrates a historic campaign, Algeria has suffered yet another catastrophic outing at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Since winning their second Africa Cup of Nations title in 2019, Algeria has witnessed a stunning decline in football; at the 2021 AFCON, then defending champions, Algeria earned a point from three games, finishing bottom of the group for an early exit. The Desert Foxes also failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, controversially losing out to Cameroon during the playoffs. The early exit from the 2023 AFCON makes it two successive group stage exits for the Desert Foxes despite the array of talents at their disposal. In a group that had teams such as Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, it is incomprehensible on the basis of football pedigree and the talents on display that Algeria finish bottom of the group.
It is quite difficult to pinpoint the exact challenge of this highly-gifted Algerian side especially behind the scene; nonetheless, from the field of play, the team were dismal throughout the campaign, lacking cohesion or any semblance of organization. Coach Djamel Belmadi will get the chunk of the blame for his tactical decision of leaving the duo of Riyad Mahrez and Nabil Bentaleb from the starting XI of a decisive game. Beyond managerial concerns, the players will also have to look inwards and ask themselves if they were committal to the team’s cause through their performances. With the 2026 World Cup around the corner, Algeria will have to find answers as quickly as possible to be on the train to Canada, USA and Mexico.
