Tag Archives: Egypt

AFCON stories to watch: Salah’s bid for crowning glory, look out for DR Congo and Cameroon in chaos

Left to right: Osimhen, Salah and Hakimi are three of the biggest names at this season’s Africa Cup of Nations
“The 35th Africa Cup of Nations starts on Sunday when hosts Morocco take on Comoros. This edition of the tournament was originally scheduled for summer 2025, but it got pushed back six months to ensure it did not clash with the inaugural playing of FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup in June and July. Matches will be held at nine stadiums across six cities, including Marrakesh, Casablanca and Tangier. The venue for the opening game and the final is the 68,700-seater Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat, Morocco’s capital. AFCON is frequently full of surprises. For example, host nation Ivory Coast won the previous one in early 2024, despite losing two of their three group games. None of the 24 competing teams are making their debut this year, but Botswana and Comoros have qualified for only the second time. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

“The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as AFCON 2025, will be the 35th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It will be the second edition hosted by Morocco, after 1988. Morocco was originally scheduled to host the 2015 edition, but withdrew due to fears stemming from the Western African Ebola virus epidemic. Due to FIFA expanding its Club World Cup competition to 32 teams and having it scheduled for June and July 2025, this edition of the tournament will be played between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026. …”
Wikipedia
Everything You Need to Know About the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 (Video)
ESPN: AFCON 2025 team-by-team guide – Key players, predictions, will there be a surprise winner?
YouTube: AFCON 2025 Stadiums: Morocco

Ten players who could steal the show at the 2026 World Cup

“Brace yourselves, the World Cup countdown officially starts…now. … Having 16 more teams means even more of the globe’s best players can showcase their talents on the biggest stage, but who do we expect to be the protagonists next summer? Some names might be obvious, others might not have even earned their first international cap or play for countries whose qualification hangs in the balance. It’s a tricky assignment, but it is fun to try. So, almost one year out, this is The Athletic’s shortlist of those predicted — or expected — to light up World Cup 2026. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Is AFCON a major tournament?

Mohamed Salah before receiving his silver medal after the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final.
“Is the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) a major tournament? That question sparked a heated debate following comments made by former Liverpool defender and current TV pundit Jamie Carragher. On Sunday evening, after Mohamed Salah’s stellar performance against Manchester City—where he scored and assisted in Liverpool’s 2-0 win—Carragher questioned Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or. Despite Salah’s unprecedented statistical run—25 goals and 16 assists this Premier League season with still a third of the season to go—Carragher suggested that Salah is at a disadvantage because he represents Egypt, implying that even winning AFCON wouldn’t significantly boost his Ballon d’Or credentials. …”
Africa Is a Country

How Morocco’s World Cup Run Reignited a Debate on Soccer Colonialism

Larbi Ben Barek of Marseille and Eloy of Sedan during a French Cup quarterfinals match in 1954.
“The French soccer team knocked Morocco out of the World Cup last week, leading to many broken hearts across North Africa, the Middle East and, because of its history of colonial migration, France. France established a protectorate in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956, effectively colonizing the country. So the match seemed the opportunity for a postcolonial reckoning, particularly after Morocco’s victory over two of its other ex-colonial powers, Spain and Portugal. But soccer between France and Morocco has always been a microcosm of imperial control. In Morocco, the French hoped to govern more peacefully and with a greater emphasis on soft power than they did in their occupation of neighboring Algeria. …”
New Lines Magazine
A postcolonial World Cup showdown for the ages
How soccer’s colonial past still plagues the game today
[PDF] Football and colonialism: body and popular culture in urban Mozambique
amazon: Football in the Middle East Edited by Abdullah Al-Arian, Football and Colonialism: Body and Popular Culture in Urban Mozambique

The affective politics of AFCON

“The dust is settling on the training pitches and stadiums of the 2023 edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), as Morocco gears up to host the next tournament in 2025. To be sure, it was a spectacular AFCON. Not only did the host nation’s team make quite the comeback—deemed by some to be a resurrection—but the performance of other teams as well, which sent some of the most revered giants of African football home earlier than expected, was nothing short of astounding. This AFCON absolutely delivered on plot twists. It also delivered on fun and banter or, to put it more succinctly in Nouchi, an Abidjan urban vernacular, on enjaillement. …”
Africa Is a Country

Ivory Coast are AFCON champions: From sacking manager to lifting trophy, this is their story

“Children were dancing on the pitch, kissing the turf and throwing confetti in the air while a security guard chased after them. Three hours after Ivory Coast beat Nigeria 2-1 to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the third time, hundreds of people were still inside the Alassane Ouattara Stadium. Volunteers wanted to go home, but supporters wanted to cling to this magical moment for as long as possible. They gatecrashed the mixed zone, where players speak to reporters, and grabbed selfies with Max Gradel or asked him to sign their shirts. Sebastien Haller and Odilon Kossounou flashed their medals for the cameras. Oumar Diakite, Christian Kouame and Jean-Philippe Krasso walked through with a speaker blasting music. The group of children running around the centre circle briefly disappeared to follow the team bus but came charging back minutes later. …”
The Athletic
GuardianIvory Coast’s Afcon win shows there’s no blueprint for tournament success – Jonathan Wilson
W – 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
The Athletic: AFCON final: Haller’s fairytale finish seals glory as Nigeria and Osimhen fall short
YouTube: HIGHLIGHTS | Nigeria 🆚 Côte d’Ivoire

The ‘magic’ of the beautiful game

“‘Magic,’ ‘sorcery,’ and ‘witchcraft’ come up over and over again in discussions about football in Africa. They are allegedly widespread in the African game and make for intriguing and controversial debates. In the ongoing African Cup of Nations, religion has made an appearance: a Ghanaian Christian prophet predicted a player’s demise, and the Egyptian Football Association sacrificed a cow to bring luck to the national team. The prophecy did not come to pass and Egypt was knocked out by the DR Congo. This might be a good moment to reassess debates about religion and spirituality in African football and find better ways to think about them. One perspective is that football ‘sorcery’ is a harmless practice that adds color and uniqueness to the African game and aids in players’ psychological preparation. However, debates about the morality and appropriateness of football ‘magic’ are highly charged. …”
Africa Is a Country

From chaos to champions? Don’t rule it out in Ivory Coast’s madcap Afcon

An Ivory Coast supporter celebrates Monday’s victory over Senegal on a street in the northern city of Korhogo
“The fact that Ivory Coast hired a veteran French coach – Jean‑Louis Gasset – with no experience in African football before the Africa Cup of Nations, only to sack him after their miserable performance in the group stages and replace him with a former international player but novice manager, Emerse Faé, for their last‑16 game against Senegal speaks to the cocktail of incompetence and chaos that is Ivorian football. Not even the pulsating, national morale-boosting penalty‑shootout win against Senegal on Monday, which sent the streets of Ivory Coast’s capital Yamoussoukro into a frenzy of jubilation into the early hours of Tuesday, can mask this fact. …”
Guardian
South Africa knock World Cup semi-finalists Morocco out of Africa Cup of Nations

A Senegal supporter at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium
Ivory Coast’s redemption arc: AFCON hosts go from despair to delirium “Senegal’s supporters banged their drums with such ferocious intensity that it felt like they were rallying troops — maybe that was their intention. Scattered around the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro, in between the thousands of people who swayed their hips and danced for hours, were some supporters wearing grisly lion masks. When Habibou Diallo scored from Sadio Mane’s cross after three minutes, they let off a bright red flare. Ivory Coast boss Emerse Fae, in his first game as a senior head coach, must have wondered if he had accidentally stumbled upon the entrance to Mordor. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Guardian – Afcon: Hakimi misses penalty and Amrabat sent off as South Africa stun Morocco
Africa Is a Country: Abidjan is orange

AFCON 2023 round of 16: When do the knockout stages begin? Who plays who?

“It’s business time in the Africa Cup of Nations. The group stage is done and dusted, and from Saturday, January 27 until Tuesday, January 30, the 16 remaining teams will duke it out to reach the quarter-finals as they tussle to be crowned kings of the continent. Reigning champions Senegal led the way by winning three games from three in the group stage but some of their fancied rivals have struggled to replicate the same level of success, with the likes of Egypt, Cameroon (and hosts Ivory Coast) qualifying for the knockout rounds by the skin of their teeth. Meanwhile, for as much as Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde have impressed by sauntering to qualification, Ghana and Algeria are among the heavy-hitters that have already returned home with their tails between their legs. Here, The Athletic runs through the last-16 showdowns on the horizon. Who faces who, where are the games and when will the first knockout matches of AFCON 2023 take place. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Africa Is a Country: Explaining Afcon upsets
Guardian: How Zambia’s Patson Daka stayed focused to write history at Afcon

AFCON 2023 permutations: How Ghana, Ivory Coast and other teams can still reach knockout stage Ivory Coast

“The Africa Cup of Nations has been every bit as exciting as it promised to be. Equatorial Guinea, a nation with 1.6million inhabitants, thrashed hosts Ivory Coast 4-0 on Monday. Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 small volcanic islands off the coast of west Africa, threw up the tournament’s first upset on the second day, beating four-time winners Ghana 2-1. And we have not even reached the knockout stage yet. …”
The Athletic

AFCON is a playlist

“Music and African football have always been inextricably linked. Think of some of Africa’s most iconic moments in football: Roger Milla and his dance at the corner flag, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Bafana Bafana on the half-turn in synchronized rhythm, and Robert Kidiaba bum-bouncing after a goal. It’s not just the players that punctuate the rhythm of play with dance, at times the terraces at Cup of Nations tournaments can turn into impromptu flash mobs. With just a few days to go before we kick off the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, we’ve put together our official Africa Is A Country playlist, exploring some of the most iconic songs in African football and explaining why they mean so much to so many on the continent. …”
Africa Is A Country (Video)

The Radar – The Athletic’s scouting guide to the Africa Cup of Nations

“Welcome to The Radar — Africa Cup of Nations edition. What you are about to read is the result of a lot of hard work from our team of writers, data analysts and designers, who have combined to bring you a guide to the 24 players we think you should pay particularly close attention to at the 2023 (yes, it’s being held in 2024) Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, starting on January 13 and finishing on February 11. Below, you will find some of the tournament’s best and most exciting players split into three categories. There are eight superstars — globally renowned players from some of the biggest African footballing nations, all of whom have the ability and experience to dominate the upcoming tournament. …”
The Athletic

Will an African nation win the World Cup in the next decade?
“With Morocco’s performance at the last World Cup, do you see an African nation winning the tournament in the next decade? Honestly, no. The World Cup is a slightly odd tournament in that it’s pretty much never had a shock winner – maybe West Germany in 1954, but their subsequent performances have diminished what a surprise that felt at the time. Perhaps all that means is that we’re due a shock but there seems to be something about the magnitude of the occasion in the latter stages of the competition that ultimately benefits the elite. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

AFCON: Your guide to the games, the stars and the storylines
“The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations starts on Saturday, with hosts Ivory Coast taking on Guinea-Bissau. The biennial competition, which first took place in 1957, sees 24 teams battle it out to be crowned Africa’s champions. At the last AFCON, Senegal beat Egypt on penalties to win the tournament for the first time. …”
The Athletic

The footballers who escaped one of the most dangerous countries on Earth
“David is an Eritrean footballer, a refugee who thinks government agents are still watching him even though he fled the country a long time ago and is now thousands of miles away. Though he has claimed asylum abroad, his fears mean that he often sleeps with a chair pressed against the door of his bedroom. Sometimes he will have nightmares about a group of men armed with weapons bursting in and taking him away. …”
The Athletic

Africa Super League: Can new competition improve club game on continent?

“Morocco may well have broken barriers for African football with the country’s historic run to the World Cup semi-finals, but the club game on the continent is still lagging well behind the standards in Europe. As such, Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe is hoping the launch of the Africa Super League next year will change that. The South African described the new competition as “one of the most exciting developments in the history of African football” when he unveiled the latest plans in Tanzania in August. …”
BBC

Africa’s World Cup: how a continent that usually underperforms finally got it rig

“After the first round of games at the World Cup, an all too familiar script looked to be playing out for African football fans. Five games played, three losses, two draws and only Ghana putting the ball in the back of the net in a defeat by Portugal. Another disappointing tournament appeared to be looming for the continent that Brazil soccer great and three-time winner Pelé once declared would ‘win the World Cup before the year 2000.’ … However, as Qatar 2022 draws to a close, the outlook looks very different. Every single team from the continent went on to win a game in its group for the first time in history, two teams made it out of the group stages – a joint record – and Morocco will become the first African team to play in a World Cup semifinal. …”
CNN

A pivot towards Africa

“… Sporting achievements have also played important roles in pan-African and diasporic projects for post-colonial national development, national and transnational movements for liberation, and individual and familial social mobility. Morocco is the first African and Arab team to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup. The team’s victory against Portugal in the quarterfinals of the tournament surfaced strong pan-African and pan-Arab sentiments across the continent and throughout the diaspora. Headlines carried banners proclaiming Morocco as ‘carrying Africa’s hopes.’ …”
Africa Is a Country

What does the World Cup mean to the Middle East and Arab world?

“Anyone who has travelled on Qatar Airways recently will have been afforded the exciting opportunity to watch a short feature all about Gianni Infantino on their in-flight entertainment. In the midst of 15 very self-aggrandising minutes about football’s glorious leader, Infantino says about this World Cup: ‘For Qatar and for the Middle East in general, it’s an opportunity to present themselves to the world.’ We’ll gloss over for a moment how patronising that sounds, and instead consider the interesting question his statement inspires: to what extent is this a World Cup for Qatar, and to what extent is this a World Cup for the Middle East/Arabic nations/the Muslim world? Does this World Cup represent an entire region? …”
The Athletic (Video)

World Cup provisional squads explained: What are the rules and will they be made public?

“A month from today, it all begins. The World Cup in Qatar looms ever larger on the horizon and the countdown is on to the first of 64 games that will crown a winner at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday, December 18. Doubts persist over the suitability of Qatar to host this World Cup, as well as its readiness to welcome more than one million visitors, but the biggest names in football are about to descend on a tiny Gulf nation that’s half the size of Wales and roughly as big as the US state of Connecticut. …”
The Athletic
The Analyst: World Cup 2022 Guide to Each Group

World Cup 2022 news round-up: Nkunku and Lewandowski shine as Argentina put faith in Scaloni

“Club football is back and with fewer than 50 days for players to find form and fitness before the World Cup kicks off on November 20, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, Leandro Trossard of Belgium and USA forward Ricardo Pepi laid down a marker at the weekend. Off the pitch, coaches are already being rewarded before the tournament kicks off with Wales extending Rob Page’s contract and Argentina set to keep Lionel Scaloni as head coach until the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. …”
The Athletic

World Cup 2022 power rankings: how the 32 look with two months to go

“With most teams having played their final matches before the tournament in Qatar, who appear most likely to lift the trophy? …”
Guardian

World Cup health check: The issue each country must address before Qatar

“The September international break is normally relatively relaxed — a chance to tweak tactics and focus on formations. Not this time. For almost all 32 competing nations, this is the final set of international fixtures before the World Cup begins in Qatar on November 20. So that you can go into the break feeling prepared, The Athletic has identified one issue every team need to try to fix this break…”
The Athletic (Video)

The Long Revolution of the Ultras Ahlawy

“CAIRO, Egypt — On Sunday, as Ahmed Abdel Zaher turned to celebrate scoring his side’s second goal in the final of the African champions league, he did something strange with his outstretched right hand. He extended his four fingers, and tucked his thumb over his palm. The goal itself was significant—it ensured that Cairo’s mighty Al-Ahly team would beat South Africa’s Orlando Pirates for its eighth champions league title. But in Egypt, it was Abdel Zaher’s celebration that later stole the limelight. For his four-fingered salute has over the past three months become a potent and divisive sign of opposition to the overthrow of Egypt’s former president, Mohamed Morsi. …”
Road & Kingdoms (2013)
Reading List: Ronnie Close
In Conversation with Ronnie Close about Cairo’s Ultras (Audio)
amazon

Pitso Mosimane’s real fight is with his winning self

“Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane conjures up the image of an enraged bull when he is on the warpath. His deadly stare, menacing temper and sharp tongue pierce his detractors when he is cornered. But if you listen to him closely, and look at the bigger battle he is waging, an angry Mosimane is more like a matador. The anger that he flashes like a giant red cape for all to see conceals a deadlier weapon that you never see coming if you don’t watch closely. That weapon helps Mosimane control the narrative while many focus on the anger. …”
New Frame
W – Pitso Mosimane
W – Al Ahly SC

The World Cup Draw Is Friday. Here’s How It Works.

“The World Cup field is almost complete. On Friday, soccer teams will learn the answer to the critical question they and their fans want to know: Who will they play when the tournament opens in November in Qatar? The World Cup draw — part gala, part pep rally, part math seminar — will deliver intriguing clashes of styles, testy political collisions and, if past events are any guide, a few uncomfortable moments. But given the stakes of the draw, it is also one of the biggest events on the global sports calendar. Here is a look at how it works. …”
NY Times
NY Times: Who Has Qualified for the 2022 World Cup? (Video)
NY Times: Your World Cup Questions, Answered
The Athletic – 2022 World Cup odds: France, Brazil are co-favorites ahead of the draw; England, Spain right behind

World Cup 2022: Algeria avenge Nations Cup failure in Cameroon

Islam Slimani celebrates his crucial goal in Douala where Algeria took a 1-0 first-leg lead
“Algeria inflicted a rare home defeat on Cameroon as the 2019 African champions took a crucial 1-0 lead from the first leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off. Playing in Douala, where Cameroon have been unbeaten since losing a Nations Cup qualifier in 2000, veteran Islam Slimani’s winner handed Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi the perfect 46th birthday present. Five minutes before the break, the former Leicester City striker rose to meet Youcef Belaili’s free-kick and power a header past Ajax goalkeeper Andrè Onana….”
BBC

There’s a metaphor in there somewhere

“There is a metaphor somewhere in Senegal’s first African Cup of Nations (Afcon) championship in its history. The 2021 Afcon, played last month and this week because of a postponement from last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ended Sunday with Sadio Mane, the Liverpool star, scoring the decisive penalty in the final. With that, a one-month-long festival of football by Africa’s men’s national teams and everything else that surrounded it came to an end. Most of the players now return to their clubs, where some of them are stars, mostly in Europe. There’s a metaphor in that too. …”
Africa Is a Country

Why Algeria imploded at the Afcon

20 January 2022: A dejected Youcef Belaïli of Algeria during the Africa Cup of Nations match against Ivory Coast at Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.
“If anyone ever doubted the power of a football match result, just show them Algeria’s 270 minutes in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that led to people completely second-guessing the success of The Fennecs. Prior to the tournament, Algeria had a 35-match unbeaten run, easily disposing of Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly. They were justifiably dubbed favourites alongside hosts Cameroon as well as Morocco and Senegal, yet they were sent packing after just three group-stage matches. It is a serious blow considering that, in the new 24-team Afcon format, four of the best third-placed teams also qualify for the knockout stage. …”
New Frame

Silencing the past of Egyptian football

Egyptian fans celebrates in a street in Cairo after Egypt beat Cameroon in their African Cup of Nations quarter-final football match in Angola on January 25, 2010.
“Nearly every day when I arrive for work at the New Cairo campus of the American University in Cairo, I walk through the Omar Mohsen Gate. This pedestrian security gate was named after an undergraduate economics major who died violently at a 2012 soccer match in Port Said between Egyptian Premier League teams Al Ahly and Al Masry. The tenth anniversary of that match passed earlier this month on February 1st. Egyptians appeared to have hardly noted it. If they did, they did not say or write much about it, and with good reason: four days later, their Pharaohs of Egypt would play against the Téranga Lions of Senegal in the marquee final match of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The tension and drama of the final did not disappoint, though the outcome left many Egyptians disappointed as much as it left many Senegalese—whose team had never won the AFCON title—elated. …”
Africa Is a Country
W – Port Said Stadium riot

Africa Cup of Nations review: sorrow, anger and Mané’s redemption

“Our writers relive their highs and lows of a tournament completely overshadowed by the Olembe Stadium tragedy. … This Cup of Nations was played under a shadow from the moment eight supporters died outside Olembe Stadium a fortnight ago. There is no excusing what happened at a venue surrounded by vast spaces and the depressing sense remains that its causes will be swept under the carpet. After driving back to Yaoundé the following day and speaking with Romaric, who had been in the ground and encountered people who had been caught up in the crush as he left, the horror of what had occurred started to become clear. A subsequent visit to the emergency hospital brought some harrowing testimonies; these are, sadly, the words and images that linger. …”
Guardian
The Athletic – Cox: Italy-esque Senegal shackled Egypt with five men – they were deserved winners (Audio)
****An African Cup of Nations Primer
NY Times – Africa Cup of Nations: Soccer Tournament Offers Joy Amid Coups and Covid
AFCON 2021: The Review
W – 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
YouTube: Senegal vs Egypt | AFCON 2021 FINAL HIGHLIGHTS | 02/06/2022, Cameroon vs Egypt – CAF African Cup of Nations 2022 2:10:39

Fans from Burkina Faso, which recently underwent a coup, rehearsed their dances and drumming before Wednesday’s semifinal.

Querulous Queiroz and his histrionic Egypt have the smarts to outwit Senegal

“Mohamed Salah against Sadio Mané, two great Liverpool forwards going head-to-head in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nationsfinal. It’s the headline clash of Egypt against Senegal, the meeting of the most successful side in African history and a team that has never lifted the trophy. But to focus on them would be misleading: although both have had an influence late in games, neither Senegal nor Egypt could be said to be teams based around their attacking talent. There is an unavoidable sense that even to focus on the football is itself uncomfortable, given the tragic events of a fortnight ago when eight fans were trampled to death outside Stade Olembé, where the final will be staged. The quarter-final at the venue was moved, but after a review it was decided Thursday’s semi-final should be played there. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Guardian – Lions, Panthers and Pharaohs: the best photos from the Africa Cup of Nations
BBC – Senegal 0 Egypt 0, Senegal win 4-2 on penalties
The Athletic – Vote Salah: Why does Liverpool’s superstar struggle for global acclaim?

Salah’s Egypt to face Mané’s Senegal in final after shootout win over Cameroon

“Africa’s two best players will square off in Sunday’s final but, before this tournament’s marketing team gets too excited about a clash between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, it would be best to expect a slow burner. Egypt revel in those, and showed it again here. They survived a series of first-half scares against Cameroon, who were enthusiastic but blunt, and then stretched proceedings to their elastic limit. Once penalties loomed there was a sense everyone bar the noisy 900 fans who had flown from Cairo might as well head home: Egypt simply do not lose them and, for the sixth shootout running, showed cool heads while others wilted. …”
Guardian
BBC: Cameroon 0 Egypt 0
The Athletic: Liverpool’s Salah and Mane to meet in AFCON final as Egypt beat hosts Cameroon on penalties
Guardian: Sadio Mané seals Senegal’s passage to Afcon final as Burkina Faso blown away – Jonathan Wilson

Mohamed Salah makes the difference in Egypt’s fightback victory over Morocco

“A solid defence plus Mohamed Salah equals progress. It might not be particularly edifying or good to watch but it does seem to work. This was a dismal game, two hours of spoiling with a dusting of football but, in the football that was played, Salah was decisive. He scored the equaliser and set up the winner, so Egypt will meet Cameroon in Thursday’s semi-final, a meeting of the two most successful sides in Cup of Nation’s history. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Predicting the AFCON 2021 Quarter-finals

“Senegal and Cameroon – they’ve each got about a 75% chance of reaching the AFCON 2021 semi-finals with dream quarter-final draws, but that’s about where the similarities end. We’ll start this off with one of those teams and end with the other while weaving through the remaining six sides with key numbers for each. A disclaimer before reading on: Teams playing attacking football (looking at you, Morocco) will be handsomely rewarded with more words. …”
The Analyst

Is that a “juju” man on Malawi’s bench?

“In Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa and much of southern Africa, the rains which start falling in November, the onset of summer, are a welcome respite after the preceding dry, winter months. However welcome the rains are, the relief is sometimes tinged with a measure of trepidation – especially among some rural communities. After all, rains come with lightning and thunder. It so happens that our region receives a disproportionate amount of lightning compared to the rest of the world. One reason for the phenomenon is the minerals extant in the rocks beneath us that draw the electricity from the sky. Nonsense, some will say – the real reason is African metaphysics. …”
New Frame

Africa Cup of Nations: A football celebration overshadowed by tragedy Published

Abandoned shoes were the only evidence that there had been a problem before the match.
“In our series of letters from African writers, Algerian-Canadian football journalist Maher Mezahi, who is in Cameroon to cover the Africa Cup of Nations, reflects on how the recent deaths of fans at a stadium has left him with mixed feelings about the tournament. …”
BBC (Video)

Mohamed Salah’s nerveless shootout penalty takes Egypt past Ivory Coast

“It ended, as it had for a long time seemed that it would, with penalties. And as has happened twice before at the Africa Cup of Nations in the past 24 years, Egypt beat Ivory Coast on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Eric Bailly, who had had an excellent game, saw his dinked effort pushed against the crossbar by Egypt’s substitute keeper Mohamed Abou Gabal. Combined with Mohamed Salah’s decisive spot-kick, it was enough for Carlos Queiroz’s Egypt to progress. …”
Guardian: Jonathan Wilson
BBC: Ivory Coast 0 – 0 Egypt

Comoros, Cameroon and the curious tale of no goalkeepers

Injured goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina sums up the mood in the Comoros camp.
“While the fairytale story of Comoros’s journey to the knockout stages of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations will some day make an inspirational feel-good movie, one suspects Disney’s scriptwriters will have to leave out some of the finer details on the grounds that audiences may find them just a little bit too far-fetched. Hailing from a financially impoverished archipelago with a population of less than one million people located off the east coast of the continent, Les Coelacantes pulled off something of a miracle in merely qualifying for Afcon but certainly weren’t expected to make it this far. …”
Guardian

The Most Exciting Sporting Event in the World Is Happening Right Now

“In March 1957, Ghana cast off British colonialism and became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve political self-rule. At its independence celebrations, the new prime minister, Kwame Nkrumah, offered a hopeful message: ‘We are going to create our own African personality and identity. It is the only way we can show the world that we are ready for our own battles.’ I was remembering that line last week as I watched the early matches of the Africa Cup of Nations, a tournament of soccer teams representing 24 countries from across the continent. This year’s competition is being hosted by Cameroon; it began on Jan. 9 and runs until Feb. 6. …”
NY Times

Africa Cup of Nations: Pépé caps Ivory Coast win to send dismal Algeria home

“Ivory Coast thumped Algeria 3-1 to send the defending champions crashing out of the Africa Cup of Nations finals following a disastrous Group E campaign. Nicolas Pépé’s fine solo goal early in the second half put the game out of sight, the Arsenal winger advancing into the penalty area and curling the ball into the far corner with his left foot. The Elephants led 2-0 at half-time thanks to Franck Kessié’s opener and an Ibrahim Sangaré header from Serge Aurier’s free-kick. …”
Guardian
Guardian: Africa Cup of Nations Group A,B,C,D,E,F

Case Study: Carlos Queiroz’s Egypt

“Egypt is one of the most successful teams in Africa, a country known for its attacking-first style of football (especially under Hassan Shehata’s leadership) and that has won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times. … Taking over from former manager Hossam El Badry, whose period witnessed a great fluctuation in performance, this heightened pressure on Queiroz has proven to be successful. The technical staff includes Diyaa El Sayed, Mohamed Shawky, Essam El-Hadry, and Wael Gomaa, as well as performance analyst Mahmoud Seleem. This piece will look to investigate all aspects of Egypt’s play, including how players fit the game model and training sessions used in the process. …”
Breaking the Lines
W – Carlos Queiroz

AFCON 2021: The Stats So Far No.2

“Each team have played two games at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – some have already qualified for the last 16, some have very little hope of going any further. What have we learnt from the opening two matchdays so far? …”
The Analyst

When Two Champions Leagues Titles in Eight Months Don’t Count

“Pitso Mosimane has done enough winning in the last year, plus change, to talk about nothing else. In November 2020, only three months after he was appointed manager of the Egyptian club Al Ahly, he won the African Champions League title. He did so by beating Zamalek, Al Ahly’s fiercest rival. The final was cast as the derby of the century. Nobody in Egypt thought it was an exaggeration. Eight months later, he repeated the trick. The calendar contracted and concentrated by the pandemic, Al Ahly returned to the Champions League final in July to face Kaizer Chiefs, the team Mosimane had supported as a child in South Africa. He won again. He was showered with golden ticker tape on the field, then presented with bouquets of roses by government grandees when he returned to Cairo. …”
NY Times

AFCON is decolonization

“The 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations began today, Sunday, 9 January, in Cameroon. AIAC founder and editor Sean Jacobs joins Will to talk about the history of the tournament, its contemporary politics, and its relationship to the hegemony of European football. The most important question of all, of course, is who will win this year’s showpiece? Listen below for some predictions.”
Africa Is a Country 1:11:15 (Audio)

Roger De Sá is already looking beyond the Afcon

24 September 2013: Orlando Pirates coach Roger De Sá reacts during an MTN 8 semifinal match against Kaizer Chiefs at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
“Roger De Sá is not giving too much thought to the possibility of setting a South African record of sorts at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which kicked off on 9 January and runs until 6 February. An Afcon winner with Bafana Bafana back in 1996, albeit as an unused substitution, the former goalkeeper could become the first South African to win a second gold in Africa’s premier competition should he help Egypt become champions for an eighth time. De Sá is coach of the Pharaohs. …”
New Frame
W – Roger De Sá

AFCON 2021 guide: The storylines, the underdogs and the games you won’t want to miss

“The latest Africa Cup of Nations is just around the corner. It’s been a long road to get here for a competition that has been moved around the calendar multiple times and, in the style of Euro 2020 last summer has the ‘wrong’ year in its official title, but 24 teams are now finally set to duke it out in Cameroon to become the next champions of Africa, with the tournament getting underway on Sunday, and finishing on Sunday, February 6. Here’s everything you need to know. …”
The Athletic (Audio)
NY Times: The Joy in Embracing the Unknown (Video)
New Frame: Behind concerns over Afcon is a culture of disdain
Predicting the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Winner
GOAL – Afcon 2021 predictions: The contenders and the pretenders (Video)

Afcon 2021: Everything you need to know about tournament in Cameroon

“First scheduled to start in June 2021 but subsequently brought forward to January last year to avoid Cameroon’s rainy season, the tournament has been delayed to 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has faced criticism over the timing of its continental showpiece, and last month had to address rumours the tournament would be further delayed or moved following the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright said some of the negative media coverage has been ‘disrespectful’ and ‘tinged with racism’. …”
BBC (Video)

Africa Cup of Nations: Which Premier League players are going?

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Edouard Mendy, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Maxwel Cornet and more will be gone for several weeks
“The Africa Cup of Nations begins next month, with over 30 Premier League players set to miss several weeks of the season as they head to Cameroon. Arsenal, Leicester City and Watford are each set to lose a league-high four players. Liverpool will lose three – including forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – as will Crystal Palace. Chelsea are going to be without keeper Edouard Mendy, who could miss the Fifa Club World Cup and league games against Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham, among others. …”
BBC

Stoppage-time sensations set up Tunisia-Algeria final

Egyptian players reacting to the last-minute loss to Tunisia
“Tunisia will battle Algeria for gold at the FIFA Arab Cup™ after semi-final victories packed full of passion, tension and late, late drama. The Eagles of Carthage prevailed in the 95th minute, scoring with almost the last touch of a last-four duel with Egypt that had looked to be heading inexorably towards extra time. But if we thought that match-winning Amro Elsoulia own goal had been dramatic, we hadn’t seen anything yet. In the second of the day’s semis, Algeria looked to be heading for a deserved and fairly routine 1-0 win of their own until Mohammed Muntari popped up in the 97th minute to send home a thundering headed equaliser. But the delays and VAR check that followed extended stoppage time yet further and, fully 17 minutes after the clock hit 90, Mohammed Belaili notched the winner on the rebound after his initial penalty had been saved. It made for an incredible conclusion to a truly remarkable day of action and set a high bar for Saturday’s final act. …”
FIFA (Video)

Pharaohs fight back as Fennecs keep their cool

Morocco 2 (3) Algeria 2 (5)
“The last-four line-up at the FIFA Arab Cup is complete after Egypt and Algeria edged epic encounters to set up semi-finals against Tunisia and Qatar respectively. The North African duo emerged triumphant after two very different but equally thrilling matches, both of which ebbed and flowed before going into extra time and, in the later kick-off, beyond. Les Fennecs needed penalties to edge a titanic tussle with Morocco, while Egypt fell behind before battling back to dominate and, ultimately, overpower a valiant Jordan side. …”
FIFA (Video)
YouTube: Algeria vs Morocco 5-3 | Penalties Shootout – Arab Cup

Aubameyang to Zaha: how Africa Cup of Nations will hit Premier League

“Only four top-flight clubs are in line to be unaffected by tournament that kicks off in Cameroon on 9 January. … Jürgen Klopp is not the only Premier League manager who will have Afcon on his mind over the coming weeks. With the delayed 33rd edition of the continental showpiece due to begin in Cameroon on 9 January, planning for the absence of up to 40 players from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Wilfried Zaha during one of the most intense periods of the domestic season will present a major headache for several. Much to the annoyance of Klopp and European club managers, the tournament was switched back to its usual mid-season slot after the 2019 Cup of Nations in Egypt was held for the first time during the European summer, because June and July are part of the rainy season in Cameroon. …”
Guardian
W – 2022 African Nations Championship
YouTube: AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2022 DRAW RESULT

The 2018 World Cup Letdown All-Stars

“The World Cup is a deceptively tricky tournament to predict. Even as it showcases the game’s greatest players on an international stage (with apologies to poor Christian Pulisic), the window to make a lasting impression is aggravatingly short: At most, a team will play seven games in the tournament. The majority of club leagues, meanwhile, play upward of 30 matches in a season—and that’s before considering concurrent cup competitions. The brief nature of the World Cup, in other words, is basically an international version of March Madness and all the swirling chaos that entails.” The Ringer

How to really watch the World Cup

“Every soccer game is a story that opens up onto an infinite number of other stories. The World Cup is the ultimate concatenation of these stories, the greatest work of literature the sport has to offer. World Cup teams are perhaps the most visible embodiment of nations — collectives whose actions on the pitch can seem, in the moment, to determine the fate of a country. The biographies of particular players intermingle with that of the team, channeling and condensing our most vexed histories, those of nations and their unending quest to define themselves. Yet while many of us root for a particular nation in the World Cup, our fandom during the tournament is often an expression of a complex web of allegiances.” Vox – Laurent Dubois

Politics on the pitch: Operation double eagle

“Try as they might, FIFA can’t keep politics out of the beautiful game. For football fans, players, and even officials, the events of the past few days have been a stark reminder of just how prominent politics are in this summer’s World Cup held in Russia. Last Friday, Egypt’s Mo Salah was photographed at a ceremonial banquet where he was granted ‘honourary citizenship’ by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. This comes just weeks after the publication of a photo featuring Salah and Kadyrov that resulted in criticism against the footballer, as Kadyrov faces accusations of outrageous human rights violations. It’s been rumored that Salah’s frustration with being the centre of political controversy has driven him to think about leaving the Egyptian national team.” Al Jazeera (Audio)

World Cup 2018: Fear Kills Flair for Egypt

“… Egyptian, Muslim, and football fans: all came together on June 15 when Egypt played Uruguay in its first World Cup match in twenty-eight years. It was also the first day of Eid, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. And it was also the birthday of a man called Mohamed Salah, whose incandescent talent propelled us to the tournament in Russia.” NYBooks

Russia Is Not This Good — Right?

“Before the 2018 World Cup kicked off last week at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, much had been written about why Russia was so bad at soccer. A convincing 5-0 opening match win over Saudi Arabia — Russia’s first win at the tournament since 2002 also matched its largest margin of victory at a World Cup — surely helped to allay some of those criticisms. But there was still no looking past the fact that the host nation ranked 70th in the FIFA world rankings and was looked at by bookmakers as a relative long shot to win the whole thing.” FiveThirtyEight

Russia Continues to Surprise, While Japan, Senegal Earn Landmark World Cup Wins

“Day 6 of World Cup 2018 is done, headlined by Russia’s 3-1 thrashing of Egypt, which gives the host nation six points and brings it to the cusp of a place in the knockout stage. The headliner was preceded by a pair of notable victories: Japan’s historic 2-1 win over Colombia (for reasons explained below), and Senegal’s 2-1 win over Poland, which was the first victory by an African team in the tournament. Every nation has now played at least once in Russia, where there has yet to be a scoreless draw, though there have been five own goals and a number of VAR interventions.” SI

José Giménez’s late show snatches victory for Uruguay over Egypt

“Slowly, slowly, it had been coming. After 80 minutes in which almost nothing had happened, other than the non-appearance of Mohamed Salah, Uruguay had begun to increase the pressure. Edinson Cavani had a volley pawed away by Ahmed El-Shenawy then smacked a free-kick against the post before, with a minute to go, José María Giménez rose to meet a right-wing corner with a powerful header and Uruguay, for the first time since 1970, had won their opening game at a World Cup.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson, Guardian: Uruguay’s Diego Godín: ‘They kicked Luis Suárez out like a dog. It was unjust, disproportionate’

Mo Salah, Now Starring in Chechnya

“GROZNY, Russia — Ramzan A. Kadyrov did not sustain himself as the autocratic leader of the Chechen republic by failing to understand the value of propaganda and spectacle. So he was not to be deterred when Egypt’s national soccer team arrived here at its World Cup training camp on Sunday, and the whole squad showed up for an evening workout — except for the star forward Mohamed Salah. The bearded Mr. Kadyrov, 41, left the field in his turquoise and white track suit. Soon, he returned, this time making a grand entrance with Mr. Salah before about 8,000 fans, posing for photographers and television cameras, even grabbing the Liverpool star’s arm and raising it as if crowning a boxing champion.” NY Times