The Drama of Ghana and Algeria in AFCON 2023
Together, they have won six Africa Cups of Nations, and neither of the two teams has managed to advance past the group stage in this edition.
The AFCON 2023 concludes its group stage this Wednesday, and with it, there are heavyweight teams bidding farewell to the tournament in a surprisingly premature and dramatic exit.
This is the case for both Ghana and Algeria. Together, they boast six Africa Cup of Nations titles, with Ghana winning four and Algeria securing two. However, both teams are mathematically eliminated from the tournament after a forgettable group stage.
They bid farewell without winning any of their three matches. Two draws and one loss characterize the poor performance of both teams, leading to an earlier-than-expected return home.
Ghana briefly harbored hopes of advancing as one of the best third-placed teams with their two points, but those hopes evaporated when Cameroon defeated Gambia. Algeria, on the other hand, finished last in their group with no chance of progressing.
The departure of the "Greens" was particularly harsh. The 2019 champions exit the tournament after losing to Mauritania in their final match, a team that had not won any AFCON matches until now.
The blow dealt to both teams was so significant that it led to the dismissal of their respective head coaches. Chris Hughton was fired in Ghana's case, while in Algeria, Djamel Belmadi announced his resignation immediately after the defeat against Mauritania that sealed their fate.
