The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is on the verge of its climax as Nigeria prepares to take on host Côte D’Ivoire in the final on Sunday after wins against South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively.
Nigeria won 4-2 on penalties after the regulation time ended 1-1 while Côte D’Ivoire leapfrogged DR Congo 1-0 thanks to a lone goal from Borussia Dortmund’s forward Sebastian Haller.
How has the competition unfolded since it kicked off?
Matches
A total of 60 matches have been played since the competition started with 116 goals scored across all the phases of the tournament. 36 group games played with 89 goals scored, 8 games in the round of 16 that produced 16 goals, 4 games in the quarter 🌜 finals with 8 goals scored and three goals from two semi-final games.
Teams with the highest goals
None of the three teams with the highest goals in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations made it to the Semi-finals or the final. Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Senegal have scored the highest goals so far in this tournament with 9 goals each which couldn’t take them to either the losers’ final or the final.
Cape Verde came second after scoring 8 goals in the tournament as Nigeria who has scored in all their games since the opening fixture of the tournament has scored 7 goals as well as Egypt and South Africa who were eliminated by the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Côte D’Ivoire who have found their way into the final after progressing from their group as best losers share the same number of goals with Mali and DR Congo whom they eliminated in the Semi-final after each of them scored 6 goals.
Penalties
22 penalties have been given throughout the tournament so far with Burkina Faso and South Africa taking the highest share with 3 penalties each for them during the tournament.
Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, and Nigeria have all been awarded the spot kick twice while Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Mali, Morocco and Mozambique have all been awarded once each.
Best Defence
The Super Eagles of Nigeria remains the team with the best defence so far in the tournament after conceding just 2 goals en route to the final.
Nigeria conceded in their first game against Equatorial Guinea in a match that ended 1-1 but goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali took up the challenge and kept 4 clean sheets after and only conceded from the spot against South Africa in the Semi-final.
Senegal conceded two goals as well but where eliminated in the round of 16 by host Côte D’Ivoire on penalties after the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw.
Tunisia remains the other team that conceded just two goals but were sent home after the group stages.
Shots ( On Target)
South Africa remains the highest-ranked team in this category with 58 shots as 32 were on target. Democratic Republic of Congo are second with 49(18) shots as finalists Nigeria comes third with the highest shots in the tournament, taking a total of 48 shots with 19 going on target as they have been able to convert seven from those shots.
Discipline – Yellow and Red Cards
A total of 13 red cards have been issued out in the tournament with 153 yellow cards 🟡.
Host Côte D’Ivoire have received two red cards while the rest of Angola, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have all been shown the door once 🔂.
Côte D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have been cautioned 11 times with Angola, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal have all received 9 yellow 🟡 cards so far.
Top Scorers
34-year-old Emilio Nsue of Equatorial Guinea remains the competition’s top scorer with 5 goals in four games.
He is followed by Jacinto Dala Gelson (27) of Angola and Mostafa Mohammed of Egypt all with 4 goals each.
Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman follows closely with 3 goals and will have the opportunity to increase his tally when the Super Eagles face The Elephants.
Assists
Alfredo Fredy (33), Angola, Georges-Kevin Nkouduo (28), Cameroon, Jose Dicombo (27), Equatorial Guinea and Sadio Mané (31), Senegal are all tied with three assists each to their names as all have been eliminated from the tournament.
DR Congo prepares to take on South Africa in the losers final on while Nigeria will entertain host Côte D’Ivoire on Sunday in the all-important final to decide who will take home the converter prize 🏆.
