CAN 2023: Guinea-Bissau, the only Portuguese-speaking victory.
The qualifying round for the African Cup of Nations, CAN 2023, are ongoing. The football championship will take place in Côte d'Ivoire, only in 2024, by decision of the Confederation of African Football that postponed the championship due to weather conditions in Côte d'Ivoire, where the risk of rain and flooding is very high in the months of June and July.
Qualifiers continue this week with the five Portuguese-speaking countries competing for a spot in the continental competition. Hopes rest mainly on Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, with only the top two in each of the 12 groups guaranteeing classification.
The PALOP groups
Until the fourth round, Guinea-Bissau is in second place, in group A, with 7 points, while São Tomé and Príncipe is in the last position with 1 point, in the same group; Cape Verde is in second place in group B with 7 points; Angola is third, in group E, with 5 points; Mozambique is second, in group L, but with only 4 points.
In group A, Guinea-Bissau has two wins, one defeat and one draw. In the first round, they beat São Tomé and Príncipe by 5-1; in the second, they drew two goals with Sierra Leone; in the third they beat Nigeria (which leads the group with nine points) by 1-0 and in the fourth they lost to Nigeria by 1-0.
The fifth round is on the 12th of June against São Tomé and Príncipe, the bottom of the group and, in the last round, on the 4th of September, they will face Sierra Leone. São Tomé and Príncipe, on the other hand, have only one point, after three defeats and a draw.
In group B, until the fourth round, Cape Verde is in second place with 7 points, and Burkina has already qualified for the final phase with 10 points. The blue sharks have two wins, one draw and one loss.
In the first round, Cape Verde lost to Burkina Faso by 2-0; in the second, they beat Togo by 2-0; in the third, they tied with Eswatini without goals and in the fourth, they beat Eswatini by 1-0. In the fifth round, Tubarões Azuis will play against Burkina Faso, already qualified, and in the sixth round, on September 4th, they will face Togo.
In group E, so far, Angola appears in third, with five points, behind Ghana, with eight, and RCA with seven. On the counter, Palancas Negras has a 2-1 win against RCA; a 1-0 draw with Madagascar; a defeat with Ghana 1-1 and a draw with Ghana (12-4). On the XNUMXth of June, Angola will face RCA and on the XNUMXth of September they will play Madagascar.
In group L, Mozambique appears second, but with only 4 points. At the top of the group, Senegal has already qualified for the finals with 12 points, beating the Mambas twice, namely in this fourth round by 1-0, a less painful result than the previous 5-1.
Mozambique also has a 1-0 draw with Rwanda in the first round and a 12-4 victory over Benin in the second round. On June XNUMXth, the Mambas face Rwanda and on September XNUMXth, Benin.
Lusophone selections with chances
Portuguese-speaking countries have presented different performances in the qualifiers. Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde are in good positions in their groups and have a chance of qualifying. Angola and Mozambique are in more difficult situations, but still have opportunities to advance.
CAN 2023 has attracted the attention of football fans in Africa. The Angolan team, for example, faced Ghana at the Estádio Nacional 11 de Novembro, in Luanda, and despite the good performance, lost by 1-0.
“I believe that Guinea-Bissau will qualify based on the opponents they have because it seems that their task is easier”.
“The same can be said about Cape Verde. São Tomé and Príncipe has no chance of qualifying, even if they win the remaining two games”.
“Between Angola and Mozambique, Angola is more likely to qualify than Mozambique,” commented Sabino Santos, sports commentator from Guinea-Bissau.
On the other hand, António Muachilela, spokesman for the Angolan Football Federation, said:
“We are going to do our best to be able to rival Ghana. Angola played a successful game in Ghana, but fate wanted us to lose exactly in the last second of the match”.
“But we have a selection, we have a team, we have good young people, in a good mood. As a matter of fact, it has been a long time since Angola has had the quality of players that it has for this round”.
“If we draw with Ghana, which is ahead of us in the rating and is the continent's most titled team in terms of these competitions, we won't die there, because we still have 6 more points ahead”.
Regarding the performances of the other PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African Countries) teams, António Muachilela considered:
“Between Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe is currently in the worst position”.
“Mozambique also lost 5 balls to 1 against Senegal, and with this resounding defeat, I don't know how it will behave now in this second leg game”.
“By the way, Senegal is now winning everything on the continent”.
“They won the last CAN, they are in the world championships… Senegal is at the top in terms of football at all levels”.
Qualified for CAN 2023
So far, seven countries have already qualified for CAN 2023: Ivory Coast (host country), Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa.
Conclusion
The qualifying phase for CAN 2023 continues, with Portuguese-speaking countries fighting for a place in the continental competition. Some find themselves in more favorable situations, while others face greater difficulties. The games continue and fans are waiting anxiously to find out which nations will guarantee their presence in the big tournament in 2024.
What do you think of this CAN 2023 which, once again, will be the following year? Have you been following the qualifiers? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
Picture: © 2023 Daniel Beloumou Olomo
