The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) illuminated beyond the heights expected of the competition, with Ivory Coast becoming champions on the culminating day.
Upsets, drama, thrilling outcomes, and absolutely surreal football were witnessed in the tournament which was truly a blockbuster.
The 2023 AFCON was enjoyed by many globally, with pundits, fans, and enthusiasts of football claiming that it was the most exciting in recent times, with some stretching it to be the best.
However, the competition truly had everything needed and expected by neutrals, with plots and subplots seen in virtually every round of the showpiece.
Officiating was on many occasions impressive, with only pockets of graven wrong decisions witnessed in the tournament.
Premier League great and English defender, Gary Neville, even lauded the standard of officiating at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
He said: “The standards of officiating set by this year's AFCON are honestly staggering. It's like they invented it. The premier league and all of Europe have a lot of learning to do.”
Ivory Coast were even one of the nations that pushed the competition to thrilling heights. From being on the cusp of elimination, they rose to the smile of trophy celebration.
Elation was witnessed throughout Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Montagnes, Denguélé, and other states in the country when they clinched the trophy on home soil defeating Nigeria by 2-1 in the final.
The Elephants also had to come back from losing position to equalize and clinch the title, courtesy of goals from Frank Kessie and Sebastian Haller.
Haller, who is a cancer survivor, guided his nation to continental glory and that indeed perfectly delineates how great the competition was.
Let's take a look at the tournament, which spanned for almost a month, from January 13, 2023, to February 11, 2024.
Nsmnews will be channeling its gaze on the winners and losers from the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ivory Coast and caretaker manager Emerse Fae
They were on the brink of crashing out of the competition, having lost their 2nd and 3rd group game to Nigeria (1-0) and Equatorial Guinea (4-0) respectively.
The Elephants began the Africa Cup of Nations on a high, with a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau, however, things turned on its head in their closing group matches.
Thankfully for the team, they qualified as one of the best 3rd placed teams in the tournament and that was the magic they needed to get their tournament on the road.
Emerse Fae replaced Jean-Louis Gasset as boss and the Elephants looked dogged, determined, and passionate for success.
Fae, who was formerly assistant of Ivory Coast galvanized the team to their 3rd Africa Cup of Nations title, with the nation getting into a state of frenzy.
Cote D'Ivoire as a country
Before the commencement of the competition, it was revealed that the country had spent over a billion dollars in making things ready for a fruitful tournament.
This included the building of 4 new stadiums and the renovation of 2 others, with other infrastructural developments being done in the country, notably the improvement of roads, and even hotels also experienced a facelift.
The Underdogs
Several smaller footballing nations displayed their brilliance at the tournament, including; Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, and Angola amongst others.
South Africa also stunned Morocco in the quarter-final and this could be an indicator of the growth the African game is witnessing.
Viewership
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations was filled with lots of goals and that made it an enjoyable watch, with 119 goals being scored in total.
The Confederation of African Football also revealed that more than 2 billion people watched the competition live on TV - the highest in the tournament's history, with over 173 territories globally broadcasting the final.
William Troost-Ekong
The Nigeria International arguably didn't put a foot wrong in the tournament and he also netted 3 goals at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Two of those goals came from the spot and in the most nervy of circumstances - one in a choked Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the group stage against the host nation, the other in a heated game against South Africa.
His 3rd goal came as a header in the final against Ivory Coast, however, the Super Eagles couldn't see the game through to the end.
Reports from transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, have even linked William Troost-Ekong with a possible move to the Saudi Pro League as clubs are interested in his services.
Ekong became the first defender to net three goals at a single Nations Cup since Libya's Ali Al-Beshari during the 1982 AFCON.
Officiating at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
The competition enjoyed the best of officiating, with the Video Assistant Referee technology being used judiciously.
Possibly, the 2023 AFCON witnessed the best officiating in the competition's history, with pressure calls being made rightfully.
Losers at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Ghana
The 4-time AFCON champions had an abysmal tournament, crashing out in the group stage without a victory, as they shared the spoils twice and lost 1 game.
Ghana crashed out in the group stage in back-to-back editions of the tournament and they will be hoping that they improve on their outing in subsequent tournaments.
No North African Nations In The Final 4
There had been North African finalists at the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, notably; Egypt (2017), Algeria (2019), and Egypt (2021).
However, no North African nation was represented in the 2023 edition, with the final four being Nigeria (West Africa), Ivory Coast (West Africa), DR Congo (Central Africa), and South Africa (Southern Africa).
Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian also didn't have the best of tournaments, as he sustained a hamstring injury in Egypt's second group game against Ghana, which has since kept him out of action.
Following his injury, he flew back to England for medical treatment with Liverpool, although reports claimed that he could have returned if Egypt went far in the tournament, unfortunately, he is still battling the injury problem.
The Coaches
Ghana's Chris Houghton was the first manager to be dismissed due to the West African country's poor outing at the competition.
Algeria's Djamel Belmadi, Tunisia's Jalel Kadri, and Egypt's Rui Vitoria were also booted out due to those nations' horrendous AFCON showing.
Tom Saintfiet resigned as manager of The Gambia after their exit from the AFCON, while Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso opted not to renew the contracts of Baciro Cande and Hubert Velud respectively.
Tanzania also suspended Adel Amrouche after he was slammed with an eight-match ban by CAF.
Upsets, drama, thrilling outcomes, and absolutely surreal football were witnessed in the tournament which was truly a blockbuster.
The 2023 AFCON was enjoyed by many globally, with pundits, fans, and enthusiasts of football claiming that it was the most exciting in recent times, with some stretching it to be the best.
However, the competition truly had everything needed and expected by neutrals, with plots and subplots seen in virtually every round of the showpiece.
Officiating was on many occasions impressive, with only pockets of graven wrong decisions witnessed in the tournament.
Premier League great and English defender, Gary Neville, even lauded the standard of officiating at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
He said: “The standards of officiating set by this year's AFCON are honestly staggering. It's like they invented it. The premier league and all of Europe have a lot of learning to do.”
Ivory Coast were even one of the nations that pushed the competition to thrilling heights. From being on the cusp of elimination, they rose to the smile of trophy celebration.
Elation was witnessed throughout Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Montagnes, Denguélé, and other states in the country when they clinched the trophy on home soil defeating Nigeria by 2-1 in the final.
The Elephants also had to come back from losing position to equalize and clinch the title, courtesy of goals from Frank Kessie and Sebastian Haller.
Haller, who is a cancer survivor, guided his nation to continental glory and that indeed perfectly delineates how great the competition was.
Let's take a look at the tournament, which spanned for almost a month, from January 13, 2023, to February 11, 2024.
Nsmnews will be channeling its gaze on the winners and losers from the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ivory Coast and caretaker manager Emerse Fae
They were on the brink of crashing out of the competition, having lost their 2nd and 3rd group game to Nigeria (1-0) and Equatorial Guinea (4-0) respectively.
The Elephants began the Africa Cup of Nations on a high, with a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau, however, things turned on its head in their closing group matches.
Thankfully for the team, they qualified as one of the best 3rd placed teams in the tournament and that was the magic they needed to get their tournament on the road.
Emerse Fae replaced Jean-Louis Gasset as boss and the Elephants looked dogged, determined, and passionate for success.
Fae, who was formerly assistant of Ivory Coast galvanized the team to their 3rd Africa Cup of Nations title, with the nation getting into a state of frenzy.
Cote D'Ivoire as a country
Before the commencement of the competition, it was revealed that the country had spent over a billion dollars in making things ready for a fruitful tournament.
This included the building of 4 new stadiums and the renovation of 2 others, with other infrastructural developments being done in the country, notably the improvement of roads, and even hotels also experienced a facelift.
The Underdogs
Several smaller footballing nations displayed their brilliance at the tournament, including; Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, and Angola amongst others.
South Africa also stunned Morocco in the quarter-final and this could be an indicator of the growth the African game is witnessing.
Viewership
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations was filled with lots of goals and that made it an enjoyable watch, with 119 goals being scored in total.
The Confederation of African Football also revealed that more than 2 billion people watched the competition live on TV - the highest in the tournament's history, with over 173 territories globally broadcasting the final.
William Troost-Ekong
The Nigeria International arguably didn't put a foot wrong in the tournament and he also netted 3 goals at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Two of those goals came from the spot and in the most nervy of circumstances - one in a choked Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the group stage against the host nation, the other in a heated game against South Africa.
His 3rd goal came as a header in the final against Ivory Coast, however, the Super Eagles couldn't see the game through to the end.
Reports from transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, have even linked William Troost-Ekong with a possible move to the Saudi Pro League as clubs are interested in his services.
Ekong became the first defender to net three goals at a single Nations Cup since Libya's Ali Al-Beshari during the 1982 AFCON.
Officiating at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
The competition enjoyed the best of officiating, with the Video Assistant Referee technology being used judiciously.
Possibly, the 2023 AFCON witnessed the best officiating in the competition's history, with pressure calls being made rightfully.
Losers at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Ghana
The 4-time AFCON champions had an abysmal tournament, crashing out in the group stage without a victory, as they shared the spoils twice and lost 1 game.
Ghana crashed out in the group stage in back-to-back editions of the tournament and they will be hoping that they improve on their outing in subsequent tournaments.
No North African Nations In The Final 4
There had been North African finalists at the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, notably; Egypt (2017), Algeria (2019), and Egypt (2021).
However, no North African nation was represented in the 2023 edition, with the final four being Nigeria (West Africa), Ivory Coast (West Africa), DR Congo (Central Africa), and South Africa (Southern Africa).
Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian also didn't have the best of tournaments, as he sustained a hamstring injury in Egypt's second group game against Ghana, which has since kept him out of action.
Following his injury, he flew back to England for medical treatment with Liverpool, although reports claimed that he could have returned if Egypt went far in the tournament, unfortunately, he is still battling the injury problem.
The Coaches
Ghana's Chris Houghton was the first manager to be dismissed due to the West African country's poor outing at the competition.
Algeria's Djamel Belmadi, Tunisia's Jalel Kadri, and Egypt's Rui Vitoria were also booted out due to those nations' horrendous AFCON showing.
Tom Saintfiet resigned as manager of The Gambia after their exit from the AFCON, while Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso opted not to renew the contracts of Baciro Cande and Hubert Velud respectively.
Tanzania also suspended Adel Amrouche after he was slammed with an eight-match ban by CAF.