5 things we learned from the Africa Cup of Nations

Ivory Coast players celebrate after winning the African Cup of Nations final against Nigeria (Sunday Alamba/AP).

Ivory Coast brought the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to a dramatic end on Sunday beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final to become champions for the third time.

The Elephants were the story of the competition as they sacked manager Jean-Louis Gasset after a poor group-stage performance and still went on to lift the trophy.

Here, the PA news agency looks at highlights from the latest edition.

Comeback kings Ivory Coast rise from the dead

After a shock 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast looked certain for an early exit. The Ivorian Football Federation sacked French manager Gasset afterwards and brought in former player Emerse Fae. Having scraped through to the knockout rounds, they edged past big favourites and defending champions Senegal on penalties in the round of 16 in Fae’s first game in charge, then beat Mali in extra-time in the quarter-finals and secured a 1-0 victory over DR Congo in the last four. Given the nickname ‘Zombies’, they came back from the dead once again to beat Nigeria 2-1 in the final after going behind, proving you should never write off the Ivory Coast.

APTOPIX Ivory Coast AFCON Soccer — Franck Kessie celebrates scoring Ivory Coast’s equaliser en route to a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations final (Themba Hadebe/AP)

Much change needed for the Black Stars

It was a tournament to forget for Ghana as they failed to make it out of the group stages with just two draws and a defeat. A team that included West Ham star Mohammed Kudus, Crystal Palace veteran Jordan Ayew and Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams struggled to help Ghana make any progress in the competition. Former Brighton manager Chris Hughton was sacked after less than 12 months in charge and the Black Stars have started their search for a new coach before the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June.

South Africa defy the odds

Not many would have predicted South Africa would reach the semi-finals of the tournament and Bafana Bafana certainly caught the eye. Their biggest challenge came when they took on 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in the round of 16. Goals from Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena sealed a famous 2-0 victory as PSG star Achraf Hakimi missed a penalty late on for the Moroccans.

Ivory Coast AFCON Soccer — Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen consoles team-mate William Troost-Ekong after the 2-1 African Cup of Nations final defeat against Ivory Coast (Themba Hadebe/AP)

New heights for Mauritania

Mauritania qualified for AFCON for the first time in their history in 2018 and heading into this year’s competition they had new hopes of improving on their last performance. The Lions of Chinguetti were still searching for their first win heading into the last group game against Algeria and they pulled it off with a shock 1-0 victory to also send them to their first knockout match against Cape Verde. Mauritania could not pull off another upset against Cape Verde but they sealed their place in AFCON history with an impressive performance.

Rise in viewing figures continues

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed more than two billion people worldwide watched the tournament live on TV. Deals with many broadcasters, including Sky and BBC, have helped boost figures for the competition and CAF president Patrice Motsepe predicts the next tournament’s viewing figures will be even better.