When it comes to coaching drama, the African Cup of Nations is pure mayhem.
This year’s tournament has been no different.
Host nation Ivory Coast sacked their coach Jean-Louis Gasset after a 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea in the group stage – their heaviest-ever home defeat.
The hosts were on the brink of an ugly group-stage exit after two losses from three matches, before sneaking into the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams. And under interim coach Emerse Fae, they’ve pulled off an astonishing turnaround.
They beat reigning champions Senegal in the last 16 despite being a man down following a first-half red card, equalising late in normal time before progressing on penalties.
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Then in the quarter-final, they overcame neighbouring nation Mali 2-1 with an extra-time goal.
“After Equatorial Guinea we were at the bottom of a hole. We had to wait and hope that we would qualify, which happened, and now we are not afraid of anything,” said midfielder Seko Fofana.
Now they’ll face Democratic Republic of Congo in the final four.
Gasset wasn’t the first coach to be sacked this tournament – nor was he the last.
Ghana coach Chris Hughton was the first to go after two draws and a loss saw his Black Stars dumped out in the group stage.
Tanzania coach Adel Amrouche was handed an eight-match suspension and a US $10,000 fine by the African Football Confederation (CAF) after comments he made about Morocco in a pre-tournament interview, where he claimed the nation’s football federation had undue influence over African football.
He said: “The Morocco federation is a proven power in the world of African football. Morocco manages African football. They also choose their referees and we remain simple spectators.
“For example, during the match between us and Morocco in the World Cup qualifiers in November we asked to play at 2pm, but CAF scheduled the match for the evening.”
Amrouche was surprisingly not sacked by Tanzania, but missed the remainder of the tournament due to his eight-game suspension.
Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet then resigned after his team – the Scorpions – suffered a group-stage exit.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse was hospitalised with stomach pain during the group stage, the 47-year-old being treated for a “benign infectious pathology” and kept overnight for testing before returning to the team.
Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri saw his contract end after failing to reach the semi-finals (in fact, they were dumped out in the group stage).
Djamel Belmadi then agreed to stand down from Algeria’s managerial position – having led them to the title in 2019 before back-to-back group stage exits.
And the most recent coach to lose his job was Egypt’s Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria, who was sacked a week after their disappointing Round of 16 loss to Congo on penalties.
Egypt have won a record seven AFCON titles and were runners-up in 2022. But Vitoria’s ‘Pharaohs’ failed to win a game and the coach was dumped, despite his contract running until the 2026 World Cup.
Egypt drew all three group matches before losing to Congo in just the second defeat of Vitoria’s tenure.
So, all in all, AFCON has already seen one coach hospitalised, another cop a massive fine and an eight-game ban, and six coaches lose their jobs.
And the tournament isn’t even done.
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