THE FADING ERA OF UNDERDOGS IN AFRICAN FOOTBALL

There’s a wind of change blowing over African football. Results that hitherto looked impossible have been recorded in the 34^th African Nations Cup, in Cote d’Ivoire. It did not start so recently, but even some of the surprise results of the past were viewed as an exception, and never has such results been so common in a single competition. For example, when Comoros beat the Black Stars of Ghana during the last African Nations Cup, to get to the group of 16 stages, it seemed to many as a bad day for the Ghanaian national team, but with events at the AFCON2023, it has become clear that several African national teams are experiencing a positive transition. Past records don’t count but only stand as a legacy and not the reality on the football field. That’s the situation amongst African teams and their supporters who now face the reality of watching the so-called smaller teams overwhelming their once-regarded stronger national teams!

 THE ERA OF GIANT KILLERS 

So far, several landmark football results have been recorded and this has made a very positive impression about the development of football across the continent. Cape Verde, took the first position in a group comprising of Egypt, Ghana, and Mozambique, whilst Equatorial Guinea also took the pole position in group A which has Nigeria, hosts Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Bissau. Mauritania, a nation with virtually no record of football achievement apart from their qualification for the AFCON, surprised themselves by beating AFCON2019 winners, Algeria, 1-0 to qualify for the group phase of AFCON2023. With this result, Algeria exited the competition, with Angola, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania qualifying from the same group. This same result also confirmed the exit of Ghana, one of Africa’s representatives in the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2021. In retrospect, Mauritania’s win was their first-ever victory in an AFCON match, but it was no fluke!

On the personal side for the players, surprises are also springing up. Journeyman, Emiliano Nsue, playing with a lowly third division club in Spain, leads thegoal scorers’ chart with five goals from three matches, in a pack that has established attackers such as African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen, of Nigeria, Saido Mane of Senegal, Riyad Mahrez, of Algeria and Mohammed Kudus of Ghana.

 

 

THE REASONS FOR THE DYNAMIC EVOLUTION

Looking at the squad of all the AFCON2023 participants, there’s a huge influence of foreign-based professional footballers playing in the more developed leagues of Europe and Asia. Every country has the benefits of huge exposure to modern techniques of football and has greatly reduced the imbalance between these teams. There’s also the prevalence of coaches with both local and international experience, managing these countries. For example, French-born Amir Abdou, as coach of Comoros, defeated Ghana in the  AFCON2021 and has also helped Mauritania (he joined them as coach in 2022) overcome Algeria inthe AFCON2023.

With the benefits of the wide broadcasts of these matches across the entire world, African players have the opportunity to showcase their worth and get better bargains in their contract transactions and the opportunity to get into better clubs. The current situation signals a positive growth for African football and it’s expected to continue for a long time!