The African Cup of Nations 2023 continues to be a realm of captivating surprises and twists, with its events unfolding until the eleventh of February.
Held in Ivory Coast, this tournament has ignited a revolution in the coaching stock exchange, with unexpected results catapulting some managers to newfound heights while others face a steep decline.
Among the notable ascents are managers who led underdog teams such as Cape Verde, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and the Elephants, while others experienced a sharp regression.
Favored teams like Senegal, the defending champions, historical titans Egypt, and five-time champions Cameroon exited at various stages of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast, who reached the quarter-finals with just three points thanks to the “best third-place” rule, advanced to the semi-finals.
Some renowned coaches failed to meet expectations, including Rigobert Song of Cameroon, Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi, who previously clinched the championship in 2019, and Aliou Cissé of Senegal, the titleholder of the previous edition against Egypt.
Contrarily, lesser-known figures like Amir Abdou, Mauritania’s coach, rose to prominence.
Despite the Arab team’s elimination in the round of 16, they showcased an unexpected performance, securing their first-ever victory in the tournament against Algeria and advancing to the knockout stages for the first time.
Similarly, Imerse Faie, the interim coach for Ivory Coast, steered the hosts to the semi-finals, defying the odds of a 99% probability of elimination.
Egypt’s coach failed to demonstrate his credentials, with the team failing to win any matches during the tournament, leading to calls for the dismissal of the Portuguese coach.
Jamel Belmadi
After securing the title in 2019 against Senegal, Algeria, under Belmadi’s leadership, failed to progress past the group stages in both the 2021 and 2023 editions for the first time in the history of the Desert Warriors.
Immediately following their exit from the current tournament after losing to Mauritania, Belmadi announced his departure from Algeria.
Jalal Qaderi
Tunisia sits at the bottom of their group, which included Namibia, South Africa, and Mali, in the current edition, bowing out of the tournament in the group stage.
The Tunisian Football Federation sacked the Tunisian coach due to poor results, opening the door for a new appointment.
Rigobert Song
The performance of the Cameroon national team in the ongoing tournament differs from the previous edition hosted by Cameroon.
In 2021, the Indomitable Lions topped their group but lost to Egypt in the semi-finals.
In the current championship, they finished second in their group and lost to Nigeria in the round of 16.
However, Song has yet to announce his resignation from coaching the team.
Aliou Cissé
One of the biggest surprises in the current tournament was the elimination of the Senegal national team, the Lions of Teranga, who clinched the title against Egypt on penalties in 2021.
They were defeated by Ivory Coast, a team that was on the brink of elimination but returned to contention thanks to the “best third-place” rule.
In the round of 16, the Ivory Coast team delivered its best performance in the tournament, overcoming a deficit to secure a thrilling 2-1 victory, eliminating the Senegalese team, with the assistance of interim coach Faie.
Amir Abdou
Abdou successfully led the Mauritania national team to qualify for the tournament finals, finishing as runners-up in a group that included the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Sudan.
Under his leadership, the team displayed an impressive performance, despite losing two matches in the group stage and winning one.
Abdou is not a stranger to the African continent, having previously coached the Comoros national team, leading them to the round of 16, where they lost to Cameroon, achieving a historic feat at the time.
Sebastien Desabre
Frenchman Desabre guided the Congo national team to the semi-finals of the tournament, where they will face Ivory Coast for the second time in the tournament’s semi-finals.
Desabre has previously coached African clubs such as Pyramids FC, Ismaily SC, AS Vita Club, Cotton Sport Cameroon, and Al Ahly SC, as well as the Uganda national team.
