IFFHS AFCON CAMEROON 2021 FACTS
Picture : Vincent Aboubakar of Cameroon became the first player to score at least one goal in each of the first 4 games of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Facts and Figures of the round of 16.
8 matches were played with 12 goals scored, giving an average of 1.5 goals/match.
Of the 12 matches, 3 ended in a shootout after going through 120 minutes of play: Burkina Faso/Gabon, 7/6; Egypt/Ivory Coast, 5/4 and Equatorial Guinea/Mali, 6/5.
Of the total 44 kicks taken in the shootout, 33 were goals, 6 stopped by goalkeepers and 5 failed to hit the target.
The confrontation, Egypt vs Ivory Coast closed for the third time ever in penalties in the AFCON after second round in 1998(5/4) and final in 2006(4/2).
The positive surprise of the round was the qualification of debutants, Gambia who eliminated 13-time AFCON participants and 1976 runners-up, Guinea. They will now challenge 5-time winners and hosts, Cameroon.
The negative surprise of the round was the Tunisian elimination of favourites and 3-time winners, Nigeria who had registered 3 victories in all 3 first round games, and were already being tipped potential winners of the tournament.
The dark cloud of the tournament was the fatal stampede at the Olembe Stadium just before the Cameroon vs Comoros game causing the deaths of at least 8 people and injuries to some 40 others. CAF president, Patrice Motsepe held a radio-televised live press conference following the incident as well as ordered all the teams to wear black bands on the players and precede each game with a moment of silence. Later matches billed for Olembe were temporally relocated to the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium at Mfandena. Cameroon President Paul Biya, as well as CAF offered condolences to affected families while investigations into the incident went underway immediately.