Eighth Finals : Melting Pot Of Upsets

The 2023 AFCON’s group stage had set the stage for an unpredictable and dramatic knockout phase, highlighting the competitiveness and surprises in African football. The unexpected results and high-stake matches continued in the round of 16 and captured the attention of football fans worldwide as the tournament progresses. 
Out of the eight teams that have qualified for the quarterfinals, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa have tasted AFCON glory. Guinea, Angola, Mali and Cape Verde have never won the competition, opening an avenue where there are possibilities of one of these teams winning their first ever crown. 
Host Côte d’Ivoire produced one of the greatest upsets when they knocked out defending champions Senegal to progress to the quarterfinals. They staged a magnificent come-back which revived the hopes of a whole nation that thought all was over. South Africa sending home favourites Morocco, with a 2-0 victory came as a surprise to many. The Atlas Lions were tipped as one of those teams that will go far in this competition; having reached the semifinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Seven times champions of Africa, Egypt, were booted out by the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was after a dramatic penalty shootout. A late Ryan Mendes penalty gave Cape Verde a 1-0 victory over Mauritania to book their place in the quarter-finals. While, Mohamed Bayo broke the hearts of Equatorial Guinea with just seconds left on the clock to snatch a late 1-0 victory for Guinea in the Round of 16 clash. The Guinea derby had all the ingredients of a knockout encounter, with both sides having a go at each other from the onset. Nigeria sent home five-time champions, Cameroon while Angola knocked out Namibia. The stakes of all these encounters, made the Video Assistant Referee a friend and at the same time, few criticisms have been raised on some decisions t...