AFCON 2021: A Review of First Round of Stage Matches -By Issa Babatunde Ahmed

The 33rd biennial men’s football championship of Africa in Cameroon has seen all 24 teams play their first round of matches in the group stage with the host being the only team to score more than a goal after securing a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso.

The indomitable lions also became the first team to book their place in the knockout stage following their 4-1 victory over Ethiopia in the Second round of games in the group stages. A look into what happened in the first round of group fixtures of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021.

The first yellow card of the AFCON 2021 came in the opening 40 seconds of the tourney, Burkina Faso’s Steeve Yago booking is the fastest yellow card issued in the history of an AFCON tournament. 12 games played, 12 goals scored with Cameroon the only team to score more than a goal in day 1 round of fixtures and the only fixture (Cameroon Vs Burkina Faso) to see both teams finding the back of the net in the first round of fixtures. 10 victories were recorded, 2 matches ended in a goalless draw.

Cameroon Captain Vincent Abubakar scored twice from the penalty spot to give the host a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in the opening game of the tournament coming from behind while Julio Tavares’s goal was enough for Cape Verde to record a victory over 10-man Ethiopian side in Group A.

Group B first game was decided late in the 97th minute as Sadio Mane’s late penalty gives Senegal a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe, the other fixture in the Group also ended 1-0 in favor of Guinea over Malawi who had 13 members of its squad unavailable due to a Covid-19 outbreak in camp.

The Blackstars of Ghana’s quest for a 5th championship started in a defeat as Soufiane Boufal scores seven minutes from the blast of the final whistle to secure Morocco’s  1-0 win over Ghana. Gabon were without their Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Lemina but got a 1-0 over Comoros Islands with the only shot on target in the game.

In Group D, the Super Eagles of Nigeria put up an impressive performance against the Pharaohs of Egypt as Senior Man Kelechi Iheanacho’s beautiful strike in the first half of the game handed Nigeria a deserved 1-0 win, a scoreline that did not reflect the dominance of the Super Eagles but was enough to get the 3points while the other fixture in the group had a dramatic end with Guinea Bissau missing a late penalty in the game to share points with Sudan, goalless draw it ended.

The defending champions, Algeria were unable to find a way through against a solid Sierra Leone side who threw in everything against the North Africans, goalless it ended.  With Algeria and Sierra Leone taking a point each, Ivory Coast took their chance to top the table, defeating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 with an early goal in the game from captain Max Gradel.

Group F first game was full of controversies, Mali defeated Tunisia 1-0 after converting a penalty kick but the full-time whistle was blown in the 85th minute though play continued after protests from Tunisia, but to the surprise of many, the Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe ended the game in the 89th minute, despite several stoppages including 3 VAR checks that led to two penalties and a controversial Red Card even after VAR called the attention of the referee he upholds his decision.

20 minutes after the final whistle was blown, Mali’s Coach Mohamed Magassouba’s press conference was interrupted by CAF officials who instructed that the match should re-started to play out the final three minutes, Mali were out on the field but Tunisia refused to play. The other fixture in the group saw debutant, Gambia records their first win ever in the African Cup of Nations defeating Mauritania 1-0.