AFCON GROUP STAGES BY NUMBERS

Ahead of the start of the knockout phase of the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) taking place in the Ivory Coast, let me take a by-the-numbers look back at the group stages. 

0 – No team has kept a clean sheet in all three matches with all 24 teams having had their defence breached at least once in the high-scoring round-robin phase. 

1 – While nearly a handful of coaches lost their jobs (fired or resigned) at the conclusion of the group stages, Tanzania’s Adel Amrouche was the only one to be kicked out during the round-robin phase. The Algeria/Belgian was suspended and fined by CAF for comments he made about Morocco and was thereafter fired by his association before the Taifa Stars’ final match against the DR Congo. 

2 – A couple of nations are making a first appearance in the knockout stage – Namibia and Mauritania having defied the odds to go past the group stage for the first time, both having previously never won a match at the finals. Two was also the number of penalty kicks missed - by South Africa’s Percy Tau and the DR Congo’s Cedric Bakumbu.

3 – The number of own goals scored - Estaban Obiang of Cape Verde against Guinea Bissau, Opa Sangante of Guinea Bissau against Nigeria and Gambia’s James Gomez in their thrilling 3-2 defeat by Cameroon. It is also the number of goalless matches. It had appeared that there would be no such score-lines until the last day of the round-robin phase, with three – South Africa v Tunisia, Mali v Namibia, and Tanzania v DR Congo - of the four matches failing to produce a goal. 

4 – Red Cards were handed out in the group stages, Ebou Adams of Gambia, Guinea’s Francois Komano, Tanzanian Novatus Miroshi and Zambia’s Roderick Kabwe all being sent off for an early shower in clashes against Senegal Cameroon, Morocco and Tanzania respectively.  

5 – Highest number of goals scored by a player in the group stages, that honour belonging to Emilio Nsue of Equatorial Guinea. In a tournament teeming with top-class strikers playing in the big European leagues, it is incredible that a man who plies his trade in the third division of Spain leads the charge for the Golden Boot. At 34 years of age, he became the oldest player to score a hat-trick with his trio against Guinea Bissau, to think he actually plays as a right-back for his club Intercity.  

6 – Successive tournaments in which the defending champions have failed to go past the round of 16. Can holders Senegal break this ‘jinx’ and reach the quarterfinals? Before them, all of Egypt (2010 champions, did not qualify for 2012); Zambia (2012 champions, group stage casualties in 2013), Nigeria (2013 winners, did not qualify for 2015), Ivory Coast (2015 champions, group stage casualties in 2017), Cameroon (2017 champions, knocked out in round of 16 in 2019) and Algeria (2019 champions, group stage casualties in 2021) failed. 

7 – Points earned by the majority of the group winners. Out of the six groups, four were won on seven points – all of Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, Angola and Morocco winning two matches and drawing one. 

8 – the number of former champions left in the tournament and, incredibly, they are pitted against each other for the Round of 16 stage - Nigeria v Cameroon; Morocco v South Africa; Senegal v Ivory Coast; Egypt v DR Congo. Eight is also the number of West African countries - Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal - which have progressed into the knockout stage.