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The Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign concluded on Tuesday, when the final five places for next year’s biennial showpiece in Morocco were sewn up, but it was a disaster for the likes of Ghana and underwhelm for Nigeria.
It was a frantic and intense three-month group-stage campaign, with high-profile sides missing the finals and some of the continent’s lesser lights looking forward to a shot at Africa’s grandest prize.
Here are the big talking points and the most compelling subplots from the finale of a memorable AFCON qualifying campaign.
Ghana failed to win any of their six matches, and their absence from AFCON 2025 — confirmed when they were held by Angola in their penultimate Group F fixture — predictably prompted an outpouring of public fury towards Black Stars head coach Otto Addo and the besieged Ghana Football Association.
They had not missed the Nations Cup finals since the tournament was expanded to 24 teams, and it is only their second absence since 1990.
A gameweek six 2-1 home defeat by Niger in the deserted Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday was the final ignominy, with the crowd at one point turning its back on Mohammed Kudus as he spurned a penalty for the hosts before the lowly Menas scored a 92nd-minute winner through Oumar Sako.
Ghanaian media had not held hold back when grilling Addo ahead of the match, with the 49-year-old coach having faced intensifying calls to be removed from his post.
“I trained under [Matthias] Sammer; I trained under [Jurgen] Klopp; I was assistant to Edin Terzic, who was [Borussia] Dortmund’s head coach,” Addo said in defence of his credentials. “They are also critical of some things, but this has much more value if I speak to Klopp and he says this or that than somebody from anywhere saying blah, blah, this is bad [etc].”
Don’t expect the decision-makers in the Ghanaian association to see things Addo’s way…
Guinea joined Ghana as high-profile absentees from the finals in Morocco, missing the tournament for the first time since 2017 and for only the fourth time since 2002.
The Syli National have reached the knockouts in each of their past four appearances in the finals, and they appeared well placed to overcome a sluggish start to this campaign following the appointment of Michel Dussuyer and the hot form of Serhou Guirassy.
They needed only to avoid defeat by Tanzania away in Dar es Salaam to reach Morocco, but they failed to respond to Simon Msuva‘s header on the hour mark as the Taifa Stars reached the Nations Cup for the fourth time.
Guirassy, with five goals in two matches against Ethiopia, and a sensational 92nd-minute volleyed winner against Congo DR on Saturday, had appeared primed to inspire the West Africans to the tournament, but he failed to register a single shot on target against Tanzania.
It’s a bitter shame that one of Europe’s most in-form frontmen — 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga outings last term, and six in eight appearances this season — will miss another opportunity to star at AFCON, having endured injury problems at the 2024 tournament.
Mauritania ‘s 1-0 victory over already eliminated Cape Verde Islands gave them hope of reaching a fourth consecutive Nations Cup, and they just needed Egypt to beat Botswana to progress.
For Botswana, however, ranked No, 140 in the world, and not present at AFCON since 2012, the ominous prospect of a showdown in Cairo, albeit in a near-empty stadium, stood between them and a return to the high table.
“The Botswana spirit is with you all the way in Egypt,” the country’s new president Duma Boko wrote on social media ahead of the clash. “Go Zebby, Go.”
Botswana took an early lead when Omaatla Kebatho capitalised on sloppy Egyptian defending, but they appeared primed for a long, long night after Trézéguet equalised 15 minutes later.
And so it proved.
The Pharaohs enjoyed 82% possession and registered 30 shots as they sought to bag a winner.
However, with Mohamed Salah given the international break off, and Omar Marmoush struggling to bring his Bundesliga form to bear, Botswana goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko proved equal to everything the Pharaohs threw at him.
Mauritania had done their bit, but Botswana became the first team to take a point in Cairo since Kenya in 2019 and they are — by 23 FIFA places — the lowest-ranked team to reach next year’s competition.
While perhaps not as momentous as Letsile Tebogo’s gold medal-winning display at the Olympic Games in Paris, the Zebras’ AFCON qualification caps a fine year for Botswana’s sport.
Libya were at the heart of controversy once again after their supporters gave Benin — and their head coach, Gernot Rohr — a particularly hostile reception during their final group fixture in North Africa.
Libya needed a win to give themselves a shot of progression (although that would have ultimately been futile with Rwanda winning in Nigeria), and the home supporters ensured Tripoli Stadium was a cauldron for the visitors.
Benin held on for a 0-0 draw, but the conclusion of the match was marred by ugly scenes: Rohr required treatment in the team bus after being physically struck, while other members of the support staff are understood to have been involved in confrontations as the visitors were detained in their dressing room for an hour after full-time.
The incidents followed the controversy that overshadowed Libya’s previous international break, when they were handed a 3-0 defeat after diverting Nigeria’s flight and then restraining the Super Eagles in an airport to escalate a spat between the nations.
“This was really a warzone,” Benin striker Steve Mounié said after the match. “Not the Libyan team, nor the country, nor the supporters respected us before the game.
“They whistled our national anthem, and we made it a personal affair. We wanted to leave this match with qualification, we succeeded, with difficulty, and Benin will be at the AFCON in 2025.”
A bruised Rohr confirmed to ESPN later that he was doing well despite the incident, and he can now look forward to a fourth AFCON tournament with a fourth different nation.
International football won’t resume until March, leaving some of Africa’s biggest names with plenty of time to ponder how to resolve some of their current vulnerabilities.
Admittedly, some of those teams that had already qualified for AFCON perhaps weren’t at full strength for their final fixtures, but several ought to have cause for concern.
In no scenario should Nigeria be losing at home to Rwanda, yet a defensive lapse allowed the minnows to equalise inside the final 20 minutes, cancelling Samuel Chukwueze‘s opener, before the visitors added the winner three minutes later.
Nigeria’s interim head coach, Augustine Eguavoen, acknowledged after the match that he’d fallen short tactically, and the Nigeria Football Federation is now likely to oversee the appointment of a new long-term head coach before the March break.
Don’t expect Kais Yaakoubi, Tunisia’s interim head coach, to be given the job full-time after he oversaw a miserable 1-0 home defeat by already eliminated Gambia on Monday.
Tunisia may have already been through, but Yaakoubi’s decision to point the finger of blame at Algeria and Morocco — for attracting dual-nationality players who could otherwise have turned out for the Carthage Eagles — struck the wrong tone for such a proud footballing nation.
Sebastien Desabre, who has overseen so much progress with Congo DR, will surely also be furious that the Leopards ended their campaign with consecutive defeats, while Ivory Coast bounced back from their 1-0 defeat by Zambia to demolish Chad 4-0.
Morocco, the only team to maintain a 100% record, can look back on an excellent campaign — even though they were guaranteed their spot as hosts — while Samuel Eto’o’s Cameroon largely managed to banish the off-field controversy and increasingly let their football do the talking.
The Indomitable Lions are one of nine sides, along with Senegal, South Africa, Mali, Angola, Algeria, Egypt, Comoros and the hosts to have got through the qualifying campaign unbeaten.
