AWE Media Sierra Leone

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson After a competitive show of soccer brilliance among 24 nations in 32 games, 16 teams consisting of the top two performers of each Group-A to F plus four best losers are set to continue their campaign in search for the 34th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) glory. With stakes being high, Alusine Rehme Wislon in this article detailed how the teams’ qualified, total goals scored, and what lies ahead. Interestingly, some AFCON regular suspects notably Algeria, Ghana and Tunisia were sent packing early after they failed to qualify form the group stage without registering any win. Algeria, Ghana and Tunisia respectively bowed to Mauritian, Cape Verde and Zambia 1-0, 2-1 and 1-0 while underrated teams like Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde announced their presence as title competitors by topping their respective groups A and B with seven points each. The 32 group games produced a total of 89 goals with Equatorial Guinea(9), defending champions Senegal(8) and Cape Ve...

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson Six years after grabbing their first qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals, Mauritania’s participation in the 34th edition of the continental race is proving to be remarkable as they stun 2019 holders Algeria to record their maiden AFCON win. A confident recovery from their successive defeats to Burkina Faso and Angola in their first two group games in the AFCON 2023 group stage, Mauritania defied all odds and defended their team’s badge by taking the lead in the 37th minute through Yali Dellahi’s deflected strike. However, Mauritania’s feat is credited to their solid team collaboration plus the goalkeeper Babacar Niasse’s bravery to stop dangerous shots from the Algerians that gifted them all three points to finish third in Group-D behind Burkina Faso (4) and Angola (7) grabbing also on the day their first time qualification to the round of 16 joining the likes of Guinea as Best losers. During the post-match interview, Mauritian’s Head...