The 2024 AFCON tournament is going to be the biggest highlight of the year. The spirits were so tense that you could cut it with a knife, the atmosphere filling the stadium with support. Finally, the surprises that stole the show. That snuck out of the shadows and stunned the entire African continent. So, I have decided to rank the top 5 surprises of the entire tournament.
5. The Giraffes bully the Elephants off the road
With the last match day upon them, the Ivorian Elephants had a chance to punch their ticket to the group stages against the nation of Equatorial Guinea.
Eq. Guinea had a 1 point edge on Côte d’Ivoire, this was a case of winner takes all. With 36,340 fans in attendance, both teams took the field, ready to take the dub. The first half was seemingly dominated by Côte d’Ivoire, but their captain & star player, Emilio Nsue, stepped up to give them the lead with a dazzling effort into the goal. Côte d’Ivoire had thought to have taken control by scoring before the half but were denied by VAR.
After another disallowed Ivorian goal, the Giraffes took off by netting the ball three times in 15 minutes. The game ended 4-0 with Eq. Guinea, taking Côte d’Ivoire out of instant qualification.
4. Morocco & Senegal get knocked off the head of the table
With both teams coming into the tournament as favorites, they were not ready for what was to come their way. Morocco is the highest ranked nation in the CAF Fifa Men’s Rankings, with Senegal close behind in second.
In the group stages, they both comfortably topped their respective groups and were tasked with facing teams that were 2nd and 3rd. In this case, Morocco faced South Africa and Senegal, the hosts, Côte d’Ivoire.
When the Lions faced off against the Elephants, many believed that Senegal would cruise by them with ease. The Opta Analyst gave them a 53.5% chance of winning within 90 minutes, while Côte d’Ivoire was given a 23.8% chance.
The game kicked off at 8:00 in the evening and the clash of giants was underway. Within 4 minutes, Senegal had shown their dominance with a beautiful left-footed strike from Habib Diallo. All hope was lost until the 86’ minute when the Elephants were given a miracle after a risky dive by Senegal goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, gave Côte d’Ivoire a penalty.
Franck Kessié stepped up to take it. With the whole team’s tournament hopes on his back, he calmly slotted the ball into the goal to tie the game. After taking the game to the end of extra time, the dreaded penalty shoot-out began.
Both teams went back and forth for two rounds until a miss by Moussa Niakhaté put Senegal at a disadvantage. Côte d’Ivoire took advantage of this and Franck Kessié stepped up once again to take his team through to the quarter-finals!
After that shocking victory, people were curious to see how the Morocco match would turn out. The Opta Analyst had Morocco at 56.1% & South Africa at 22.2%. Like many analysts, they didn’t think the Bafana Bafana had a chance to upset the 1# ranked team in Africa.
The game started, and the first half remained scoreless. But in the second half, South Africa opened the score in the 57’ minute and rode that until the 85’ minute, where a handball gave Morocco the chance to restore hope. The star, Achraf Hakimi set the ball down and struck it onto the crossbar and into the stands! The clock was ticking, but Morocco still had a chance until Teboho Mokoena whacked a beautiful free kick into the top corner to soil their hopes.
3. Angola’s Legendary Run
Going into the tournament, Angola was ranked 28th out of all African countries; Most had not even acknowledged them at all. Once Angola drew against Algeria, beat Mauritania, and pushed Burkina Faso to the side, they ended up topping their group with 7 points.
Now they were starting to gain momentum in the community. In the round of 16, they were drawn against Namibia and they absolutely cooked them. With a 3-0 win, they cruised into the quarterfinals where they would face the eventual finalists, Nigeria. The game started with Angola surprisingly keeping up with the Super Eagles, but took a stumble once Ademola Lookman put Nigeria into the lead before the end of the first half. The second half went back and forth on both sides, but ultimately Nigeria were able to hold onto their lead.
In a CAF interview, the Angolan coach, Pedro Gonçalves, expressed his gratitude about the team’s performance. “I feel I have succeeded in my mission with the Angolan national team. I am aware of the work I have done with my team, nobody expected Angola to reach the quarter-finals,”.
2. Gambia & Cameroon go neck and neck for the dub
On January 23rd, Wednesday evening, Gambia was set to face Cameroon in the final group stage match. For both teams, a lot was on the line. If Gambia emerged victorious, then they would qualify Côte d’Ivoire and would also give themselves a chance at the round of 16. If Cameroon won, they would possibly qualify as a third place team.
The game kicked off at 5 p.m. with all of Côte d’Ivoire watching. The first half ended as a stalemate, but Gambia seemed to have dominated with two chances before halftime. The second half started with hope from both sides that they could break the deadlock. Sure enough, Karl Togo Ekambi scored in the 56’ minute to take Cameroon into the lead.
16 minutes later, Abie Jallow volleyed the ball to equalize the game for Gambia. Riding the recently acquired momentum, Gambia’s super sub, Ebrima Colley hit an absolute bullet to give Gambia the lead with 5 minutes remaining in regular time. Cameroon’s hopes of winning seemed to be fading away, but a costly mistake from James Gomez led him to direct the ball into his own net.
Level at 2-2, Cameroon needed a goal or else they would be packing their bags early. But in the 91st minute, a Christopher Wooh header erupted the entire nation of Cameroon! For 10 minutes Cameroon were able to hold off Gambia and qualify themselves in what a Spanish reporter, Andrés Onrubia Ramos labeled as “The best match in the history of football.”
1. Côte d’Ivoires miraculous comeback
With their hopes of qualification completely dependent on Morocco’s win, Côte d’Ivoire’s chances of beating reigning champion Senegal were very low. After firing their head coach, Côte d’Ivoire’s hopes laid in the hands of newly appointed interim coach, Emerse Faé.
The game was an absolute thriller of a match, ending with the Elephants emerging victorious on penalties. Next up, they had to face Mali. A nail-biting match from the start, Mali ended up taking the lead in the 71st minute. Then a sliding effort from the Ivorian wonder kid, Simon Adingra, was able to push the game to extra time. Locked at 1-1, Côte d’Ivoire’s Oumar Diakité executed a beautiful move to get past the Malian keeper. This ended up being the dagger and put the game to rest.
With this unexpected run by Côte d’Ivoire, everyone had their money on them beating DR Congo, and they delivered. A Sebastian Haller goal shot them into the finals.
In the finals, two juggernauts were ready to face off. Nigeria vs Côte d’Ivoire. The Super Eagles vs The Elephants. Playing in the Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium, a sea of orange, white, and green. With the whole crowd behind them, Côte d’Ivoire was ready to take the trophy home.
The game started off with the Elephants tacking on the shots. They completely dominated Nigeria until the 33rd minute, when a header byWilliam Troost-Ekong changed the game and gave Nigeria the lead. The Ivorian Elephants remained focused and continued attacking the goal, but Nigeria’s defense stayed strong.
With time ticking out for Côte d’Ivoire, Frank Kessié stepped up to the occasion and revived their hopes with a bouncing header. With 9 minutes remaining in regulation, Sebastian Haller came up clutch once again, and gave Côte d’Ivoire the lead.
For 17 heart-wrenching minutes, the Elephants held on to the lead. The game ended and Côte d’Ivoire brought the trophy home.
The Pearl of the West was really a treasure to watch.
