The 2023 edition of the African Nations Cup (AFCON) which enters its quarter-finals stage on Friday will go down in history as one that produced the most shocks and upsets.

So far, all the North African teams have been knocked out of the competition along with defending champions Senegal and other African football powerhouses in the likes of Ghana and Cameroon.

As it stands, only Nigeria, host Ivory Coast and South Africa are the countries that have won the tournament in the past, while so-called minnows like Cape Verde and Angola are lurking around in the wings, ready to cause more upsets.

As the quarter finals kicks off today, africanewswatch highlights five of the major losers of AFCON 2023.

Senegal

Going by its pedigree as the defending champions with its array of high profile players, the Lions of Teranga were tipped by many to go ahead and defend their title after outstanding performances in the group stage.

Going into the round of 16, Sebegal were the only team that won all their group matches, but fell short when facing host Ivory Coast, a match they lost 5-4 on penalties after 1-1 at regulation time.

Despite scoring first courtesy of Habibou Diallo, they lost their appetite for more goals with chances going begging which gave the Elephants the much needed confidence to push for an equaliser which duly came.

Even at the point the match went into extra-time, many pundits still believed the Sadio Mané-led Lions would eventually go ahead to triumph but it also took Mane to lose the all important spot kick that knocked them out.

Morocco

The Atlas Lions went into AFCON 2023 as one of the favourites going by their performance at the last FIFA World Cup in Qatar where they became the first African team to reach the semi final.

Coupled with that, the team had some of the best players on display who did great things for their clubs and were expected to carry on the form into the tournament.

During the preliminary stages, Morocco cruised to the top of their group with two wins and a draw and were expected to dispatch Round of 16 opponents South Africa with a minimum of fuss.

However, they did not bargain for what they got in the hands of the Bafana and a certain Evidence Makgopa who failed to go by the script.

Morocco failed to capitalise on their dominance and chances including a penalty miss by one of their best players, Achraf Hakimi and in the end, Teboho Mokoena added the killer goal when he smashed home a freekick in stoppage time.

The ouster leaves Morocco’s last triumph all the way back in 1976, and the wait for African glory continues.

Egypt

Seven-time African Nations Cup champions, Egypt, were tipped as the second favourites behind Senegal to win AFCON 2023.

Going into the tournament, Mo Salah was expected to avenge the painful loss of 2022 and lead the Pharaohs to their eighth trophy.

When they were paired against the DR Congo in the round of 16, many expected them to steamroll the East Africans and qualify for the quarter finals with ease despite losing the talismanic Salah to injury in the group stages.

But the Leopards had another plan different from pundits’ scripts as they made sure they eliminated Egypt in a long drawn penalty kicks.

Cameroon

The host of AFCON 2022 were expected to build on the last edition of the tournament where they did not fare too badly and at least, get as far as the semi finals.

With former star striker Samuel Eto’o at the helm of affairs as Fecafoot boss and Rigobert Song retained as the coach, many Cameroonians felt the two legends would steer the Indomitable Lions to greater heights both.

After falling just short at the 2021 Afcon with a third placed finish, they were eliminated at the group stages of the 2022 Fifa World Cup despite a memorable win over Brazil which many football fans and experts believed would make them a force at this tournament.

But the signs that all was not well started showing in the first match when they were dubbed 3-1 by Senegal.

They managed to scrape into the round of 16 only to come up against their perennial rivals, Nigeria who promptly dispatched them with a 2-0 victory.
The Lions were sent packing by the determined Super Eagles without as much as a whimper, further giving Eto’o and Song more work to do to get Cameroon to the level they believe they belong.

VAR

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR), has also come in for serious scrutiny by players, officials and sports journalists, making it one of the five big losers at this year’s tournament.

The biggest of such criticism came during the Senegal vs Ivory Coast match where Senegal player, Krepin Diatta accused the VAR and CAF officials of bias.

MWhile passing through the mixed zone after the match, Diatta yelled at reporters:

“You’ve killed us, you’re corrupt! Keep your African Cup! You go and consult VAR to give them a penalty, but a guy (Sarr) runs 40 metres, overlaps, breaks into the box and you can’t go and look at the VAR. I’m sorry, but it’s ridiculous. I’m really sorry, but they’ve killed our competition there.”

There were other decisions by the VAR that further called for questions but in all, many have called for caution as the tournament gathers momentum towards a crescendo.