Ivory Coast, the host nation, concluded the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in thrilling trend on Sunday, clinching victory over Nigeria with a 2-1 scoreline within the last to safe their third championship title.
Despite dismissing supervisor Jean-Louis Gasset following a lackluster efficiency within the group stage, the Elephants emerged because the standout staff of the event, showcasing resilience and willpower en path to lifting the coveted trophy.
Here, we take a better have a look at the standout moments from the newest version of the event.
Comeback Elephants
After a surprising 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast appeared sure for an early exit.
The Ivorian Football Federation sacked French supervisor Gasset afterward and introduced in former participant Emerse Fae.
Having scraped by way of to the knockout rounds, they edged previous massive favorites and defending champions Senegal on penalties within the spherical of 16 in Fae’s first recreation in cost, then beat Mali in further time within the quarterfinals and secured a 1-0 victory over DR Congo within the final 4.
Given the nickname “Zombies,” they got here again from the useless as soon as once more to beat Nigeria 2-1 within the last after going behind, proving it is best to by no means write off Ivory Coast.
Deeming Black Stars
It was a event to overlook for Ghana, as they did not make it out of the group levels with simply two attracts and a defeat.
A staff that included West Ham star Mohammed Kudus, Crystal Palace veteran Jordan Ayew, and Athletic Bilbao ahead Inaki Williams struggled to assist Ghana make any progress within the competitors.
Former Brighton supervisor Chris Hughton was sacked after lower than 12 months in cost, and the Black Stars have began their seek for a brand new coach earlier than the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June.
Bafana Bafana defy the percentages
Not many would have predicted South Africa would attain the semifinals of the event, and Bafana Bafana actually caught the attention.
Their greatest problem got here once they took on 2022 World Cup semifinalists Morocco within the spherical of 16.
Goals from Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena sealed a well-known 2-0 victory as PSG star Achraf Hakimi missed a penalty late on for the Moroccans.
New heights for Mauritania
Mauritania certified for AFCON for the primary time of their historical past in 2018, and heading into this 12 months’s competitors, that they had new hopes of bettering on their final efficiency.
The Lions of Chinguetti had been nonetheless trying to find their first win heading into the final group recreation towards Algeria, they usually pulled it off with a shock 1-0 victory to additionally ship them to their first knockout match towards Cape Verde.
Mauritania couldn’t pull off one other upset towards Cape Verde, however they sealed their place in AFCON historical past with a powerful efficiency.
Rise in viewing figures
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed that greater than 2 billion folks worldwide watched the event dwell on TV.
Deals with many broadcasters have helped increase figures for the competitors, and CAF president Patrice Motsepe predicts the following event’s viewing figures shall be even higher.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
