By Gbemidepo Popoola
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicked off on the 13th of January is underway already and the following are the 20 plus records that could be broken at the tournament.
To mention a few, André Ayew could become the first player to score a goal in 7 editions of AFCON and both Youssef Msakni and André Ayew has tied the record for the most appearances in the Africa Cup Of Nations with this being their 8th appearance.
Egypt will also extend their record as the nation with the most appearances at AFCON with this being their 26th appearance, but they also have a chance to extend their record for the most gold medals won – a win this year would make it their 8th gold.
Nigeria could extend its record for the most medals won, Senegal could become only the 4th nation to defend their winning title and Ivory Coast could break the record for the longest streak of host countries not winning Africa Cup Of Nations, which has lasted since 2006!
PLAYERS
André Ayew (Ghana) could break his tie with 3 other players and become the sole holder of the record for the most tournaments with a scored goal – Ayew has scored a goal in record-breaking 6 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, and this could be his 7th
Youssef Msakni (Tunisia) could tie 4 other players and be part of the record for the most tournaments with a scored goal – he has scored in 5 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, this could be his 6th
Youssef Msakni (Tunisia) and André Ayew (Ghana) will tie the record for the most appearances in Africa Cup of Nations with this being their 8th appearance, joining Rigobert Song (Cameroon) and Ahmed Hassan (Egypt)
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) or André Ayew (Ghana) could join 6 other players who have won Top goalscorer of the tournament on two separate occasions – Aboubakar won the award in 2021 and Ayew in 2015
Sadio Mané (Senegal) or Ismaël Bennacer (Algeria) could join Ahmed Hassan as the only player to win the award for the most valuable player on two occasions. Mané won this award in 2021, and Bennacer in 2019 – both of them are set to play at this year’s tournament
EGYPT
Egypt will extend its record for the most overall appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations since this will be their 26th appearance
Egypt could extend its record for the most gold medals won in the Africa Cup of Nations – they have won the championship 7 times, so a win in 2024 would make it their 8th
Egypt could extend its record for the most overall points gained in the all-timeAfrica Cup of Nations ranking table where points are awarded for wins and draws – they have amassed 200 points in total with Ghana and Nigeria in second and third place, 183 and 181 points, respectively
An appearance in the final match of the tournament would also extend Egypt’s record for the most appearances in the finals matches – they have appeared 10 times, this could be their 11th appearance
Egypt could extend their record for the most hat tricks – they have scored 6 hat tricks, however, the last one was scored in 1998 by Hossam Hassan
NIGERIA
If they place 1st, 2nd or 3rd, Nigeria would extend their record as the nation with the most amount of medals (gold, bronze and silver) – they have won 15 medals in total, with Egypt (13 medals) and Ghana (10 medals) in second and third place, respectively
Nigeria could extend its record for the most bronze medals won in the Africa Cup of Nations – they have placed third 8 times, so a third place in 2024 would make it their 9th bronze medal; if they end up second, they would tie Ghana as the nation with the most amount of silver medals since it would be their 5th
IVORY COAST
Ivory Coast could break the record for the longest streak of host countries not winning Africa Cup Of Nations, which has lasted since 2006 – Egypt was the last hosting country that won
SENEGAL
Coach Aliou Cissé (Senegal) could join Hassan Shehata (Egypt) and Charles Gyamfi (Ghana) as the only coaches who managed to retain their titles if he leads Senegal to another win
Senegal could become only the 4th nation to defend their winning title in the Africa Cup of Nations
GHANA
Ghana could extend its record for the most silver medals won in the Africa Cup of Nations – they have placed second 5 times, so a second place in 2024 would make it their 6th silver medal
TUNISIA
Tunisia will extend its record for most consecutive appearances – this will their 16th consecutive appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Data source: Wettfreunde.net
