Africa in action: Top sports news this week from Africa 

African sports in our weekly update, highlighting the good and not-so-good moments in the continent’s sports scene. From Mohamed Salah’s injury at AFCON, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken’s soccer visit to Ivory Coast, and big coaching changes. We’ve got the seven key sports stories that made waves in Africa this week.

Here are the top seven news of the week

Mohamed Salah got injured and left AFCON for a short term and went to England 

Salah got hurt in Egypt’s match with Ghana and won’t play the next two games if Egypt moves to the next round. He will be at the game against Cape Verde before going back to Liverpool for treatment. Liverpool shared this news from the Egyptian FA.  Mohamed Salah hopes to join Egypt later if they make it to the semi-final. Egypt has not won a game yet and needs to do well in the upcoming match to advance in the Africa Cup.

US Secretary of State Blinken has visited Ivory Coast

Blinken recently visited Ivory Coast and attended a soccer game. They gave him a jersey with his name on it. Blinken praised Ivory Coast for hosting a great tournament and talked about how sports can bring people together. He mentioned the U.S. working with African countries on infrastructure and building connections between people. Antony Blinken is touring four African countries to discuss security, conflict prevention, democracy, and trade, as the U.S. deals with challenges in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Red Sea.

Hughton who was the coach of Ghana has been fired because of his team’s early exit

The Black Stars faced elimination and on Tuesday, the Ghana Football Association made a decision. They removed Chris Hughton as the head coach and disbanded the entire coaching staff. This move followed Ghana’s loss to Cape Verde and two draws against Mozambique and Egypt. The Ghana Football Association plans to share more details about the team’s future soon. Chris Hughton had been the coach since taking over from Otto Addo after the 2022 World Cup.

Mauritania beats Algeria in the first round at AFCON

Algeria got knocked out early in the AFCON after a surprising loss to Mauritania. It’s the first time Mauritania made it to the round of 16 in the African Cup. Algeria’s disappointment matches Mauritania’s achievement. The Fennecs, Algeria’s team, lost 1-0 to Mauritania in the first round, making it a letdown for Riyad Mahrez’s generation coached by Djamel Belmadi. Despite needing only a draw to advance, they struggled and didn’t succeed. This is not the first setback for Algeria, as they also finished last in their group at AFCON-2022 and fell short in the World Cup play-offs against Cameroon.

A bus full of journalists from Africa Cup games crashed, few injured

A bus carrying journalists back to Abidjan crashed early on Wednesday after an Africa Cup of Nations game. The accident happened at around 2 a.m. while the bus was traveling from Yamoussoukro to Abidjan which is Ivory Coast’s largest city. This is where most media members were staying to cover the soccer tournament.

The bus driver and assistant were seriously injured in the front of the bus, and they were taken to a hospital in Treichville, Abidjan. Some journalists also suffered minor injuries and received treatment. The journalists had gone to Yamoussoukro on buses organized by COCAN, the committee in charge of the tournament, to cover the Senegal-Guinea and Angola-Burkina Faso games in Groups C and D.

AFCON: Algeria’s coach has resigned as the team was eliminated 

The coach of the Algeria national football team, Djamel Belmadi, has quit his job after the team got eliminated in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage for the second time in a row. The president of the Algerian Football Federation, Wali Sadi, announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to end Belmadi’s contract because of the team’s disappointing performance in the tournament.

Sadi wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “We appreciate everything Coach Djamel Belmadi did for the team and we wish him the best for his future career.”

Algeria lost 1-0 to Mauritania in their last group game, resulting in them having only two points from three matches. Even a draw would have been enough for them to advance to the next round. This was Mauritania’s first-ever victory in the Africa Cup in only their third participation.

After the game, Belmadi reportedly told the team about his decision to step down. Algerian fans were very upset about the loss, and there were even fights at the team hotel as fans tried to reach Belmadi and the players.

Nigeria qualified for the quarter-finals and beat Cameroon

Nigeria won 2-0 against Cameroon and earned a spot in the quarter-finals. Ademola Lookman was the star who scored both goals for The Super Eagles. The match started with a lot of action, and although Semi Ajayi’s early goal was canceled after a review by VAR for being offside, Lookman managed to break the deadlock in the 36th minute. He scored after receiving a good pass from Victor Osimhen, getting the ball past goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa.

Nigeria, led by the energetic Osimhen has kept up the pressure on Cameroon with their strong offense. Lookman narrowly missed a goal with a free-kick. However, Nigeria faced a setback when goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili got injured in the 75th minute, even though he did not have to make any saves before leaving the game.

Upcoming matches

To be updated must take a look at our upcoming matches series. The upcoming matches are AFCON 2023, U-19 Cricket World Cup, SA20 and more.