Six countries will exchange fire today, Sunday, January 14, 2024 as the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) enters day two in Cote d’Ivoire. Nigeria battle Equatorial Guinea, while Egypt takes on Mozambique, and Ghana trade tackles with Cape Verde. Ahead of the match, we present key facts and figures of the gladiator as gleaned from CafOnline.com:

Group A - Nigeria v Equatorial Guinea: Facts & Figures

This will be the first encounter between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. They faced each other in the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup – Nigeria won both matches (1-0; 2-0).

Nigeria are making their 20th appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. They have won the tournament on three occasions (1980, 1994, 2013) and reached the semi-finals in 14 of their last 17 AFCON participations.

Nigeria were beaten finalists the last time the CAF Africa Cup of Nations was held in Côte d’Ivoire, they lost 3-1 against Cameroon in 1984.

Nigeria have won 12 of their last 15 matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (L3). Their last draw dates back to the 2013 group stages, against Zambia (1-1).

Nigeria scored 22 goals in six games during qualifying for the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, the highest tally among the 24 teams at this year’s tournament. 10 of those goals came from Victor Osimhen, that’s twice as many as any other player (4 players on 5 goals).

This is Equatorial Guinea’s fourth CAF Africa Cup of Nations appearance, but it’s only the second time they have qualified as non-hosts. They have so far always reached the knockout stages: quarter-finalists in 2012 and 2021, 4th place in 2015.

Equatorial Guinea have never scored more than two goals in their previous 15 matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Only two of Equatorial Guinea’s 11 goals at AFCON have been scored in the first half of matches.

Victor Osimhen was directly involved in 55% of Nigeria’s goals during the qualifying campaign (10 goals, 2 assists). It’s the highest tally of goals scored in the qualifying phase of an AFCON edition since Moumouni Dagano with Burkina Faso in 2010 (12 goals).

Despite Victor Osimhen scoring 10 of their 22 goals, Nigeria had 10 different goal scorers in qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, more than any other team.

Group B - Egypt v Mozambique: Facts & Figures

This will be the fourth encounter between Egypt and Mozambique at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. The previous three meetings all produced a 2-0 group stage victory for Egypt in 1986, 1998 and 2010.

Mozambique have been drawn in the same group as Egypt for the fourth time in five appearances at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. Including their opener in Abidjan, 31% of Mozambique’s matches at the tournament have taken place against the Pharaohs.

This is Egypt’s 26th appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, a record in the history of the tournament. They have won it seven times – more than any other side – and have also reached the final in five of their last six participations.

Egypt have lost only one of their last 19 group matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (W14 D4); it was a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria in the 2021 edition, which also happens to be the only goal the Pharaohs have conceded in their last 11 group games.

The last time Egypt lost an AFCON group game by more than one goal was over 30 years ago, in the 1990 edition against hosts Algeria (0-2).

Egypt have won eight of their 10 matches in 2023 in all competitions (D1 L1), their only defeat coming against Tunisia in a friendly last September (1-3).

This is Mozambique’s 5th appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, their first since 2010. They have finished bottom of their group in each of their four previous participations.

Mozambique have won none of their 12 previous matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (D2 L10). Only Benin (14) have played more matches at the tournament without ever registering a single win.

Coming into this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Mozambique have failed to score in 75% of their AFCON matches (9 out of 12), the highest ratio among any team to have played at least 10 matches at the tournament.

Among the 24 teams that will feature in Côte d'Ivoire, none posted a lower goal difference during the qualifying campaign than Mozambique (-1).

Since his debut in the competition in 2017, Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in 64% of Egypt’s goals at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (6 goals + 3 assists, out of a team total of 14 goals).

Group B - Ghana v Cape Verde: Facts & Figures

Ghana and Cape Verde are facing each other for the second time at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations. Their only previous meeting saw Ghana win 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the 2013 edition.

This is Ghana’s 24th appearance in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, the most after Egypt (26) and Côte d’Ivoire (25). The Black Stars won the Africa Cup of Nations in four of their first seven appearances (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) but have won none of their subsequent 16.

Ghana have won only one of their last nine matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (D4 L4), a 2-0 group stage victory against Guinea-Bissau in 2019. They were knocked out in the group stages of the last AFCON.

This is Cape Verde’s fourth appearance at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, with all four taking place since 2013. Six of their 11 matches at the tournament so far have ended in a draw, with their two wins taking place against Angola in 2013 (2-1) and Ethiopia in 2022 (1-0), both in the group stages.

Cape Verde have qualified from the AFCON group stages on two previous occasions (2013, 2021) but have never won a game in the knockout phase of the competition. In fact, they have lost only one of their nine group matches (W2 D6), it was against Burkina Faso in January 2022 (0-1).

Cape Verde have never lost their opening match at a CAF Africa Cup of Nations (W1 D2).

Only one of Cape Verde’s 11 previous games at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations has produced more than two goals.

Cape Verde’s eight goals in the qualifiers for this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations were all scored by eight different players.

Mohammed Kudus was directly involved in 50% of Ghana’s goals in the qualifiers for this year’s tournament, scoring three times and assisting one (4/8).

If he plays, this will be André Ayew’s eighth CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which will equal the record held by Cameroon’s Rigobert Song and Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan. Meanwhile, if he scores for Ghana, he will set a new record of having found the net in seven different AFCON tournaments.

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