Huge earthquake in Côte d'Ivoire.Mauritania kills two birds with one stone in Group D. They claimed their first-ever victory in the African Cup by overcoming Algeria (1-0) to qualify for the next Round. The Fennecs were eliminated for the 2nd time in a row in the 1st round. Angola finished top of the group.
Algeria eliminated for the 2nd time in a row in the 1st round.
Djamel Belmadi may never recover from this one. Although his adventure at the helm of the Fennecs began like a fairytale, with Algeria's second star in Egypt in 2019 less than a year after his appointment, the coach has since suffered one failure after another. After the fiasco in Cameroon at the AFCON 2021 and in the World Cup 2022 play-off in Blida, Algeria has just withdrawn from the AFCON 2023. As they did two years ago, the Algerians finished bottom of their group. After two draws against Angola, they have just lost 1-0 to Mauritania, who had never won a match in an African Cup.
The only goal of the victory was scored in the 37th minute by Yali Dellahi. A goal that will go down in the annals of Mauritanian soccer and so will coach Amir Abdou. After leading his country, the Comoros, to their first-ever qualification for the knockout in Cameroon, he has repeated the feat with the Murabitounes, who are guaranteed a place among the four best third-placed teams.
Mauritania will now join Angola and Burkina Faso in Group D. These two teams, who had already secured qualification, were battling it out for first place. Angola came out on top with a 2-0 victory, thanks to goals from Mabululu (36th) and Zine (90th+2).
📹 HIGHLIGHTS: 🇲🇷 1-0 🇩🇿
One goal was enough for Mauritania to grab a crucial win over Algeria! 🔥#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | #MTNALG | @Football2Gether
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 24, 2024
