January 25 – Debutants Gambia are making their own history at the Africa Cup of Nations with their latest feat being the elimination of Guinea 1-0 to claim a quarterfinal spot against hosts Cameroon, who broke the hearts of first-timers Comoros 2-1.
By Samindra Kunti
January 24 – The Super Eagles of Nigeria are on the way home from the Africa Cup of Nations after ten-men Tunisia and a strike from the inevitable Youssef Msakni proved too much for the Nigerians. They became the third of Africa’s powerhouse football nations – after Ghana and current champions Algeria – to depart the tournament early.
January 23 – Egypt vs Senegal and Nigeria vs Ghana will headline Africa’s World Cup playoffs to decide the continent’s five representatives at the finals in Qatar.
By Samindra Kunti
January 21 – Defending champions Algeria exited the Africa Cup of Nations after a lacklustre 3-1 defeat at the hands of Ivory Coast. With a single point from three matches, the North Africans finished bottom of Group E.
January 19 – Comoros stunned Ghana 3-2 with their first-ever win at the Africa Cup of Nations to eliminate the Black Stars from the continental finals in the group stage.
By Paul Nicholson
January 19 – Cracks look to be appearing in FIFA’s suffocating dominance of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), divisions that could signal a weakening FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s powerbase within his core support.
January 18 – In a snub to FIFA, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has overturned a decision to suspend Pape Gueye from the African Cup of Nations with the Marseille midfielder now free to play for Senegal.
January 18 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang insists he departed the Africa Cup of Nations due to medical reasons and played down speculation of a disciplinary breach.
January 17 – Equatorial Guinea stunned Algeria 1-0 to leave the defending champions in danger of exiting the Africa Cup of Nations in the first round. Hosts Cameroon and powerhouses Morocco and Nigeria have all ensured their passage to the knockout phase.
January 14 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed Mali’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations victory over Tunisia, rejecting the North Africans’ appeal about the match ending before full-time.
By Samindra Kunti
January 13 – Chaos dominated the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday: Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe was guilty of poor time-keeping during Mali vs Tunisia and in the city of Bua, the basecamp of both Mali and Gambia, a gun battle between rebel forces and government soldiers broke out, raising security concerns.
January 13 – The Africa Cup of Nations, already hit by refereeing blunders and even a gun battle, suffered another farcical moment on Wednesday as the wrong anthem was played three times for Mauritania ahead of their opening game against Gambia.
January 12 – Nigeria kept Egypt and Mohamed Salah in check to take control of Group C at the Africa Cup of Nations and reverse their fortunes following an acrimonious build-up to the tournament.
January 12 – Ivory Coast’s AFCON hopes have been dealt a potentially damaging blow with their No. 1 goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo banned by FIFA for an alleged doping violation after testing positive for trimetazidine.
January 11 – The African confederation that has recently struggled to find hard cash to fund football on its continent has turned to cryptocurrency. Crypto exchange Binance has become another last-minute sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations, which hosts Cameroon kicked off on Sunday with a 1-0 victory against Burkina Faso.