Group E of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations took place from 16 to 24 January 2024.[1] The group consisted of Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, and Namibia.[2]
Mali and South Africa as the top two teams, along with Namibia as one of the four best third-placed teams, advanced to the round of 16.
| Draw position | Team | Zone | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Rankings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2023 | December 2023 | |||||||||||||
| E1 | style=white-space:nowrap | data-sort-value="E1" | Group J winners | data-sort-value="7" | 28 March 2023 | 21st | data-sort-value="5.1" | Winners (2004) | 29 | 28 | ||||
| E2 | style=white-space:nowrap | data-sort-value="E2" | Group G winners | data-sort-value="14" | 18 June 2023 | 13th | data-sort-value="5.2" | Runners-up (1972) | 49 | 51 | ||||
| E3 | style=white-space:nowrap | data-sort-value="E3" | Group K runners-up | data-sort-value="4" | 28 March 2023 | 11th | data-sort-value="5.3" | Winners (1996) | 65 | 66 | ||||
| E4 | style=white-space:nowrap | data-sort-value="E4" | Group E runners-up | data-sort-value="24" | 12 September 2023 | 4th | data-sort-value="5.4" | Group stage (1998, 2008, 2019) | 114 | 115 | ||||
All times are local, GMT (UTC±0).
Tunisia and Namibia met for only the fourth time, and the first since 2007, while the previous two meetings came in 1997, as both nations were drawn into Group 2 of the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification; Tunisia won the previous three meetings, including the first two, which proved key for Tunisia qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which was at the time only its second successful qualification campaign.
Tunisia was the better team on paper but was forced to work hard to overcome consistent Namibian pressure, while Tunisia failed to make an impact despite their efforts. With two minutes of normal time remaining, the Namibians punished costly Tunisian misses. From Bethuel Muzeu's clinical delivery, Deon Hotto headed home past Bechir Ben Saïd to secure a shock win for Namibia.
The victory was Namibia's first at an Africa Cup of Nations and only the third time they had avoided defeat in a group-stage match. The previous two were a 1-1 draw in its group stage finale of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations against Guinea on Jan. 28, 2008, in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, and a 3-3 draw in only its second match at an Africa Cup of Nations, which came on Feb. 12, 1998 in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, when Namibia led 2-0 and 3-1 against Angola, only to finish 3-3.
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| Man of the Match: Deon Hotto (Namibia)
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Mali and South Africa met for the fourth time, and this was their third meeting ever in the Africa Cup of Nations. The first came in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, when Mali, the tournament hosts, defeated South Africa 2–0 in a quarter-final. The nations also met in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, in which Mali advanced to the semi-finals via penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw in Durban, South Africa. South Africa missed three of four attempts during that penalty shoot-out, out victorious on penalties.
South Africa got a golden opportunity in the 16th minute when a foul by Sikou Niakaté on Evidence Makgopa gave South Africa a penalty, but Percy Tau missed. This proved to be costly for the South Africans, as Hamari Traoré scored a free kick in the 60th minute to give the West Africans the lead, before Lassine Sinayoko outmuscled Siyanda Xulu and struck home to secure Mali the win.
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| Man of the Match: Amadou Haidara (Mali)
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Tunisia and Mali met for the 15th time, and the fourth at an Africa Cup of Nations. In 2022, the nations met three times in three months. On Jan. 12, 2022, the nations met at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to open Group F, and Ibrahima Kone's penalty kick in the 48th minute was the only goal of the match to give Mali the 1-0 victory. In March 2022, a spot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup was at stake when Tunisia and Mali met; the difference was an own goal from Mali's Moussa Sissako in the first leg in Bamako, as Tunisia advanced to its sixth FIFA World Cup.
In addition, Tunisia, the hosts of the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Mali in Tunis. The nations also met in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw in Suez, Egypt, on June 25, 2019. Finally, the nations also met in the quarterfinals of the 2016 African Nations Championship, with Mali winning 2-1 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Tunisians fell behind from a clinical piece of play, as Kamory Doumbia delivered a brilliant pass before Lassine Sinayoko stroked into the far corner to give Mali the lead. Just ten minutes after Mali opened the scoring, Ali Abdi produced a run and a cut-back for Hamza Rafia to score the equalizer. However, this proved to be the final goal of the match.
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Man of the Match:
Kamory Doumbia (Mali)
South Africa and Namibia met for the 14th time, and this was their third meeting at the Africa Cup of Nations. The nations met in the group stage finale of the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, with Benny McCarthy scoring four goals in 13 minutes in a 4–1 victory in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. The nations also met at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, in which Bongani Zungu scored the only goal of the match; a 1–0 victory would prove vital as South Africa was the fourth-best third-place team in the tournament. Namibia and South Africa have played seven times in the COSAFA Cup, and Namibia had last defeated South Africa in 1999, which came during this competition.
Namibia was the first to make opportunities, but following a handball by Deon Hotto in an attempt to block Thapelo Morena, a penalty was given, and Percy Tau scored. The situation became increasingly more favorable for the South Africans when Themba Zwane clinically finished from a pass from Morena in the 25th minute. Zwane scored a solo goal after a run down Namibia's right flank in the 40th minute. South Africa sealed their win in the 75th minute, when Teboho Mokoena gave a perfect long ball to Thapelo Maseko before Maseko finished over the hapless Lloyd Kazapua to make it four.
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Man of the Match:
Themba Zwane (South Africa)
Tunisia and South Africa met for the seventh time, and the fifth at the Africa Cup of Nations. The first meeting came on Feb. 3, 1996, at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations final, in which two goals from Mark Williams won South Africa, the tournament hosts, its first-ever continental title in front of 80,000 fans in Johannesburg. met each other for the first time since 2008, where Tunisia claimed the win. The nations also met three other times: 2000 in Accra, Ghana, when South Africa defeated Tunisia 4-3 in a penalty shootout to finish third in that tournament in. Tunisia's Ali Zitouni scored twice, including an 89th-minute goal to force extra time, but missed the final penalty kick in the shootout; 2006 in Alexandria, Egypt, with Tunisia winning 2-0 in the teams' second match in the group stage, a result that confirmed South Africa's elimination from the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations with a game to go; and 2008 in Tamale, Ghana, with Tunisia winning 3-1 in the teams' second match in the group stage.
The match was a largely dull affair as Tunisia proved too timid while South Africa was too reluctant to make convincing efforts as South Africa held the advantages at hand. However, with the match becoming increasingly dire for Tunisia, the Tunisians were forced to pour everything forward and, as a result, they almost fell to counterattack traps by South Africa, notably a failed effort by Sphephelo Sithole. Haythem Jouini had a chance but his nodd over from a glorious position went wide, as the result ended goalless, enough for South Africa but too late for Tunisia.
This was the first time since 2013 (ironically hosted by South Africa) that Tunisia were eliminated from the group stages.
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| Man of the Match: Themba Zwane (South Africa)
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Mali and Namibia met for the seventh time, and the first at a group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations. The previous six meetings came in qualification matches for three separate editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. The most recent involved two matches in November 2020, with Mali winning both matches; the second match, a 2-1 victory in Windhoek, Namibia, secured Mali's qualification for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. was the first time the two teams met in AFCON. Mali and Namibia also met while qualifying for the 1996 and 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, although both nations failed to qualify for those respective tournaments.
Prins Tjiueza was played through on goal before trying to place a shot in the far-bottom corner but it was denied by Djigui Diarra as Mali slowly regained control of the match and produced numerous attempts, but none could convert into goals. With increasing pressure, Mali became increasingly desperate for the win. However, as the game went to final minutes, Namibia dug deep to prevent any further Malian attempts as both teams were satisfied with a goalless draw.
This result was historic for Namibia, as they advanced past the group stages for the first time.
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| Man of the Match: Deon Hotto (Namibia)
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Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | –2 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | –3 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | –3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | –1 |
