The 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations began on Sunday, 9th January 2022 regardless of the COVID-19 scare.
Cameroon opened the 33rd edition with a 2-1 come-back victory over Burkina Faso at the Olembe Sports Stadium after their 29-year old captain, Vincent Aboubakar scored twice from the penalty spot.
A total of 12 games has so far been played in the first round of the group stages.
Only Cameroon scored more than a goal in the first round, nine of the matches produced a goal per match with two games ending in a scoreless draw.
Vincent Aboubakar’s two goals lead is yet to be broken.
During the first round, Sierra Leone made their first appearance after 26-years and put up a massive performance to shock the world after holding the reigning champions, Algeria to a goalless draw in the Group E opener.
The first epic encounter in the tournament saw four times champions Ghana playing against Morocco at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde on day two. The game ended in favor of the North African giants after Sofiane Boufal scored the only goal at the 80th minute.
In Group D, the most successful winners, Egypt were defeated by the Super Eagles of Nigeria through Kelechi Iheanacho’s first-half strike.
In all 12 goals scored, 32yellow cards and 2 red cards were recorded.
The journey of around two begins today with a liner between the hosts, Cameroon and Ethiopia exactly 4:00 PM (17:00GMT) at the Olembe Sports Stadium.
AFCON 2021 Round One Results
Group A
Cameroon 2 – 1 Burkina Faso
Ethiopia 0 – 0 Cape Verde
Group B
Senegal 1 – 0 Zimbabwe
Guinea 1 – 0 Malawi
Group C
Morocco 1 – 0 Ghana
Comoros 0 – 1 Gabon
Group D
Nigeria 1 – 0 Egypt
Sudan 0 – 0 Guinea-Bissau
Group E
Algeria 0 – 0 Sierra Leone
Equatorial Guinea 0 – 1 Ivory Coast
Group F
Tunisia 0 – 1 Mali
Mauritania 0 – 1 Gambia
There have been 12 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 1 goal per match (as of 12 January 2022).
Vincent Aboubakar – Cameroon 2goals
Gustavo Sangaré – Burkina Faso 1
Júli Tavares – Cape Verde 1
Aaron Boupendza – Gabon 1
Able Jallow – Gambia 1
Issiaga Sylla – Guinea 1
Max Gradel Ivory Coast 1
Ibrahima Koné – Mali 1
Sofiane Boufal – Morocco 1
Kelechi Iheanacho – Nigeria 1
Sadio Mané – Senegal 1
Round Two Fixtures
Thursday – 13/01/2022
Group A
16:00 Cameroon vs Ethiopia
19:00 – Cape Verde vs Burkina Faso
Friday – 14/01/2022
Group B
13:00 – Senegal vs Guinea
16:00 – Malawi vs Zimbabwe
Group C
16:00 – Morocco vs Comoros
19:00 – Gabon vs Ghana
Saturday – 15/01/2022
Group D
16:00 – Nigeria vs Sudan
19:00 – Guinea-Bissau vs Egypt
Sunday – 16/01/2022
Group E
13:00 – Gambia vs Mali
16:00 – Tunisia vs Mauritania
Group F
16:00 – Côte d’Ivoire vs Sierra Leone
19:00 – Algeria vs Equatorial
