Considered the best African Cup of Nations ever organized so far, AFCON 2023 Ivory Coast continues to spring surprises.

At each match of this competition, something unexpected happens. The teams considered favorites for AFCON 2023 are all eliminated, either in the group stage or in the round of 16.

The surprise comes from the teams that eliminate them: teams considered as outsiders.

The majority of teams that qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition are teams on which there was no particular attention. They were therefore the least expected.

These are Angola, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Nigeria and South Africa.

AFCON 2023 or the AFCON of surprises

The AFCON of surprises is illustrated in these statistics:

Ghana, four-time winners of the competition, were eliminated in the group stage with just 2 points.

Algeria, the 2019 champion, was also eliminated from the competition in the group stage.

In the round of 16, Ivory Coast, selected best 3rd, eliminates Senegal, reigning champion and favorite who nevertheless finished with 9 points in the group stage. Egypt is eliminated by DR Congo; Morocco (favorite) is eliminated by South Africa; Equatorial Guinea, which humiliated Ivory Coast (4-0) in the group stage, is pushed towards the exit by Guinea-Conakry.

None of the 8 quarter-finalists of AFCON 2021 qualified for the quarter-finals of AFCON 2023:

Burkina Faso: eliminated in the round of 16; Tunisia: eliminated in the group stage; Senegal: eliminated in the round of 16; Equatorial Guinea: eliminated in the round of 16; Cameroon: eliminated in the round of 16; Gambia: eliminated in the group stage; Egypt: eliminated in the round of 16; Morocco: eliminated in the round of 16.