AFCON 2024 in Summary

It has been a scintillating one month of football in the African continent, with 24 teams taking part in the AFCON 2023 edition played in 2024 in Ivory Coast. To many, it will go down as one of the most competitive and unpredictable competitions in the history of African football. It was a tournament of many surprises, upsets, near-misses, and most of all; stars were born.

The curtains came down on Sunday night in Abidjan, with hosts Ivory Coast coming from a goal down to beat Nigeria 2-1 for their 3rd AFCON title. After the finale, attention turns to top European Leagues for 888bet betting fans who will have plenty of markets to bet on as most leagues enter the homestretch. Worth noting, 888bet also features a packed casino section for users with diverse interests.

The Nine Lives of The Elephants

It has been quite a journey, especially for the eventual winners who nearly went out of the competition in the group stages. Few might have expected the Elephants to go all the way, especially after qualifying as one of the best placed 2nd runners up. They had lost 0-1 to Nigeria in their second Group A clash, before facing a 0-4 humiliation in the hands of Equatorial Guinea. They had to rely on Morocco beating Zambia for them to qualify, otherwise we would be speaking about new champions. The West Africans sacked coach Jean-Louis Gasset after the heavy home drubbing, handing his assistant Emerse Fae the keys to lead the Elephants in the remaining fixtures, and boy, did he deliver? 

In the finals, the hosts were trailing Nigeria until the 62nd minute, but when Franck Kessie levelled, the orange-wearing fans turned the volume up. In the 81st minute, Sebastian Haller turned an Adingra assist in to the net to send the stadium roaring. For Haller, it has been another story of unwavering determination. Only a few months ago, there were fears that the Dortmund star would quit football after being diagnosed with cancer, but here we are, talking about a man who delivered the victory for the Elephants.

A Tournament of Upsets

Prior to the tournament in Ivory Coast, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and Nigeria were touted as the heavy favourites, but as things would turn out, minnows had other ideas. Who knew Equatorial Guinea would top a group featuring Nigeria and Ivory Coast, let alone put four past the hosts?

It may be down to the tournament expanding to 24 teams from the initial 16, as well as CAF increasing the prize money for the winner, but what we saw from the just-concluded AFCON edition was the birth of new kings. Cape Verde played good football and were partly responsible for the elimination of Egypt and Ghana. 

DR Congo went all the way to the semis only to lose to Ivory Coast, while South Africa beat a fancied Morocco 2-0 book a place in the semis against Nigeria. Namibia upset Tunisia 1-0 to send the North Africans home, before crashing out to Angola in the knockout stage. Led by a 34-year old Emilio Nsue who plays in the Spanish third tier, Equatorial Guinea endured a loud crowd of Ivorians to put four past the more fancied hosts.