From the first round of matches

Ebou Adams (right) and Omar Colley (left) battle Senegal’s former Watford winger Ismaila Sarr

After the first round of matches of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023, CAFOnline looks at the top 10 highlights of the competition thus far.

1. Ebou Adams from The Gambia was the first player to receive a red card in the competition during the match against Senegal. Guinea’s François Kamano was also sent off against Cameroon on the same day. Tanzanian Novatus Miroshi (against Morocco) increased the number of expulsions after the first 12 matches to 3.

2. Mostafa Mohamed is the fastest scorer in TotalEnergies CAF AFCON history. The Egyptian striker scored after 1:30 against Mozambique.

3. Egypt conceded two goals against Mozambique, more than in their 11 previous group matches in the African Cup of Nations (1 against Nigeria in 2022).

4. Senegal and Morocco are the authors of the most significant scores in these first matches after 3-0 victories over The Gambia and Tanzania, respectively.

5. The top scorer of the tournament so far is Lamine Camara. The Best Young African Player of the Year takes the lead in the scorers ranking with two goals after his double against Gambia.

6. Cameroon is undefeated in its last 10 TotalEnergies CAF AFCON opening group matches.

7. Youssef Msakni played his 100^th match with Tunisia during the defeat against Namibia (0-1) in their opening of Group E fixture.

8. Still no victory for Mauritania in the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON after seven matches (2 draws, five defeats).

9. Burkina Faso finally won in the opening match of a TotalEnergies CAF AFCON after 13 attempts following their 1-0 win over Mauritania. Until then, the Stallions had remained on five draws and seven defeats.

10. Namibia finally had their first victory of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON with a 1-0 victory over Tunisia. This is their fourth participation.

11. In total, 27 goals were scored after the first 12 matches. Forty-two (42) yellow cards were distributed, i.e., 3.5 cards per match, against three red cards. Five (5) draws were recorded. The most common score is 1-1 (4 times). All matches have recorded goals in the opening round.