AFCON 2023: Group E Matchday 1 Preview

Tunisia v Namibia

Tunisia will begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign on Tuesday when they play Namibia in their Group E on Wednesday at the tournament in Cote d’Ivoire.

Ahead of the match, CafOnline.com takes a look at some interesting facts and figures of the two sides below:

This will be the first encounter between Tunisia and Namibia at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. They last faced each other in November 2007, in a friendly – Tunisia won 2-0 at home.

This is Tunisia’s 21st participation in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and their 16th in a row, the latter being a record in the history of the tournament. Their only AFCON title dates back to 2004, as hosts; since then, they’ve progressed past the quarter-finals only once, in 2019, losing in the third-place match.

Tunisia have failed to win any of their last four opening matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (D2 L2). The last time they were victorious in their first game at an edition of the tournament was in 2013 against Algeria (1-0).

None of Tunisia’s last eight matches at the Africa Cup of Nations has ended in a draw (W3 L5) – their last stalemate was against Ghana in the round of 16 in the 2019 edition.

Tunisia conceded only one goal in six games in qualification for this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations, fewer than any other team.

This is Namibia’s fourth appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, their first since 2019. They have finished bottom of their group in each of their three previous participations.

Namibia have lost seven of their nine matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (D2). Coming into this year’s tournament, only Benin (14) and Mozambique (12) have played more AFCON games than Namibia (9) without ever winning one.

Namibia have conceded 2.7 goals per game at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (24 in 9 games), that’s more than any other team to have taken part in more than one edition of the tournament.

Tunisia’s Youssef Msakni will attempt to score in a record equaling sixth CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament (currently held by four players including André Ayew). He found the net on average every 22 minutes during the group stage of the qualifiers for this year’s tournament (5 goals in 110 minutes), the best ratio of any player with 2+ goals.

Peter Shalulile scored four of Namibia’s six goals in the group stage of the qualifiers for this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations. He was the only player alongside Victor Osimhen and Patson Daka to score in four different matches.

Mali vs Senegal

Mali will play South Africa in the other Group E game on Tuesday.

head of the match, CafOnline.com takes a look at some interesting facts and figures of the two sides below:

This will be the third encounter between Mali and South Africa at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. The two previous meetings saw Mali prevail, both times in the quarter-finals: 2-0 in the 2002 edition and on penalties in 2013 (1-1 after extra-time, 3-1 on penalties).

This is Mali’s 13th participation in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, including their ninth in a row; no side has played as many games as Mali (54) at AFCON without ever winning the trophy. Their best performance dates back to 1972 – Mali lost 3-2 in the final against Congo.

Mali have never lost their opening game at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (W7 D5). However, they have also never won consecutive matches at a single tournament since 2004.

Only Nigeria (22) scored more goals than Mali (15) in the qualifiers for this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations whilst only Tunisia (1) conceded fewer (2 pour les Aigles).

Four of Mali’s last nine goals at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations have been scored from the penalty spot. The last three penalties were all converted by Ibrahima Koné in the 2021 edition.

This is South Africa’s 11th participation in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, and their first since 2019. Their only AFCON title dates back to 1996, as hosts.

South Africa reached the final four of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in each of their first three participations (1st in 1996, 2nd in 1998, 3rd in 2000). Since then, they have never progressed further than the quarter-finals, winning only three of their last 20 matches (D7 L10).

South Africa have never scored more than one goal in their last nine matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. The last time they did was against Morocco in the 2013 group stages (2-2).

Among the 24 teams that will feature in Côte d’Ivoire, none conceded more goals per game than South Africa in CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023 qualifiers (1.5 per game, 6 in 4 games).

Moussa Doumbia has assisted Mali’s last three goals scored in open play at the African Cup of Nations. He’s scored six goals for the Mali national team, more than any other player in the squad for the 2023 AFCON.

South Africa boss Hugo Broos is taking part in his second CAF Africa Cup of Nations as manager – he led Cameroon to the trophy in 2017.

Source:norvanreports