The 2024 African Cup Of Nations soccer tournament, hosted in Ivory Coast, has had some unexpected results, leaving fans stunned.
The group stages of AFCON started in mid-January, and immediately the competition took an unforeseen turn. A two-time AFCON winner, Algeria, could not even make it past group stages, leaving all of North Africa astounded.
A contender to win the entire competition, Ghana, was upset in the worst way possible. Needing a win to advance and leading 2-0 over Mozambique, Ghana blindly fumbled the game by giving up a penalty kick goal and then another goal in a span of three minutes. Despite having highly rated West Ham midfielder Mohammed Kudus on the squad, the Black Stars unfortunately could not find their way to the Round of 16.
Morocco, the first-ever African Nation to make it to the World Cup semifinals, was devastatingly eliminated in a 2-0 loss to South Africa, surprising to viewers of the tournament.
Egypt, the most successful African Cup of Nations team, having won seven, rocked the whole continent of Africa with their elimination by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With their star player, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, out of the competition after suffering from a hamstring injury against Ghana, the odds of an eighth win were not in Egypt’s favor. Though initially looked at as possible winners of the tournament, their elimination gave hope to underdog countries in the competition.
One such team, South Africa, is currently in the semifinal stage, looking to face Nigeria, which has won its last four games in the competition, on Wednesday. The turnout of Wednesday’s game could give South Africa a chance at winning this year’s competition.
However, Nigeria’s squad, the Super Eagles, has the best chance of winning out of all the remaining teams. Not only have they not lost a single game, but they have one of the top strikers in Europe, Victor Oshimehn, as well as forward Ademola Lookman, who has scored three goals and one assist in five games.
While South Africa, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have made it to the semifinals and also have a chance at winning, surely the Super Eagles will add a fourth African Cup of Nations to their trophy cabinet, on Sunday.
The Giants of Africa will prevail.
