AFCON 2023: Mauritania knock out Algeria and qualify, Angola top group

Djamel Belmadi may not recover from this one. His spell in charge of the Fennecs began like a fairytale, with Algeria's second star won in Egypt in 2019, less than a year after his appointment, but the coach has since lurched from one failure to the next. After the fiasco in Cameroon at the 2021 AFCON and in the 2022 World Cup play-off in Blida, Algeria have now exited the 2023 AFCON. As two years ago, the Algerians finish bottom of their group. After two draws against Angola, they have just lost 1-0 to Mauritania, who had never won a single match at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The only goal of the game was scored in the 37th minute by Yali Dellahi. It is a goal that will go down in Mauritanian football history, as will head coach Amir Abdou. After leading his country, the Comoros, to their first qualification for the AFCON round of 16 in Cameroon, he has repeated the feat with the Mourabitounes, who are assured of going through as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Mauritania will therefore go through alongside Angola and Burkina Faso from Group D. Those two sides, who had already secured qualification, were battling for first place. Angola take it thanks to a 2-0 win with goals from Mabululu (36th) and Zine (90th+2).