By Charles Mgbolu
The AFCON 2023 tournament that started with 24 teams has been whittled down to four. Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa and DR Congo will be playing on Wednesday, February 7 to determine who proceeds to the final due on Sunday February 11.
The tournament has not been short of interesting twists and turns with key African football powerhouses such as Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Algeria already out of the tournament.
Lets take a look interesting facts about this tournament.
1. Guinea original hosts
In 2014, Guinea originally were awarded the hosting rights to the 2023 finals, along with Cameroon (2019) and Côte d'Ivoire (2021).
But Cameroon were stripped of the right to host the 2019 tournament, as they were not ready, with Egypt filling in.
Cameroon were then awarded the 2021 tournament, which eventually took place in 2022 after a one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision meant that the original hosts of 2021, Côte d'Ivoire, would host the 2023 edition, and the original hosts of 2023, Guinea, would host the tournament in 2025.
But Guinea was stripped of the hosting rights following requests from Guinea’s interim president, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, on account that the country was not ready to host the 24-nation tournament.
CAF announced in September 2023 that Morocco will replace Guinea as hosts of the 2025 tournament, making it their second time to host the tournament after its debut in 1988.
2. Highest goal scorer
The captain of Cameroon’s national team, Vincent Aboubakar, went into the tournament with the highest number of goals - eight goals in total - among current participants.
Aboubakar has the most goals scored by an AFCON competitor since 1974 and holds one of the all-time single tournament record.
He has featured in three AFCON tournaments (2015, 2017, and 2021) and has played in over 90 games for the Cameroonian national team across competitions.
3. No debutants
There were no debutants at this year’s AFCON, with Gambia the only team making a second appearance in the tournament. There were 24 teams playing this year, divided into six groups of 4 teams each.
There were no clear ‘Groups of Deaths’ entering the championship, with bookmakers acknowledging strong teams were evenly spread across the tables.
4. Highest AFCON title holders
Egypt went into the tournament as the country with the most AFCON titles (seven), followed by Cameroon (five), Ghana (four), Nigeria (three), and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast (two each).
Senegal, the current title holders, secured their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations title in dramatic style after a tense penalty shootout final win over rivals Egypt in Cameroon in February 2022.
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