African Five-a-side

The first quarterfinal of the 2024 CAF Champions League took place on Friday evening between Simba and reigning champions, Al Ahly. It was a frustrating match for the hosts who peppered the Egyptian goal with countless chances, but could not convert a single one of them. We look back on the match and ponder themes such as collective psychology and what ask what the return leg has in store for us.

Two months on from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations we have our first international window since the big tournament. We take a look at the state of 9 national teams and how they've attacked the post-Afcon period

As the holy month of Ramadan begins, we ask a few questions about its place in professional football. Does fasting impede optimal athletic performance? How can clubs or leagues accommodate fasting players and make them feel welcome?

The draw for the 2024 CAF Champions League took place a couple days ago, and so we finally have our quarterfinal matchups. We take a preliminary look at each of the matches and give our thoughts.

As we prepare for the draw of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League knockout stages, we decided to take a look at five up-and-coming youngsters that will be looking to impress and help their clubs to Africa's most prestigious trophy this year.

With no quarterfinalists at the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire and only 2 club sides in the quarterfinals of the 2024 CAF Champions League, the internet is telling us that North African football is on the decline.

We take a forensic look at the performances of the national teams and the club sides and determine if this is a general geographic trend or if this is a case-by-case basis of misfortune.

Check out Africa Is A Country: https://africasacountry.com

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we look back on what has been an enthralling six matchdays of the 2024 CAF Champions League. In this year's competition, teams that have defended well have been rewarded, and after this weekend the competition will finally begin!

We're back after an Afcon hangover and for our first episode back, we talk about the 2024 Summer Olympic Games qualifiers in African women's football. Before we pick our winners, we talk about the fact that 29/54 of the sides in Africa failed to even enter their teams for qualifying.

You can read more on Cote d'Ivoire's failure to field a team here: https://africasacountry.com/2024/02/a-forgotten-relic

On the weekend after the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, we delve into where all 24 teams go from here. For some, like Senegal, little change is necessary. For others, such as Cameroon or Algeria, much change is needed, but can the changes be carried out successfully?

After several peaks and valleys, Cote d'Ivoire sealed their tournament by beating Nigeria in the Afcon final, 2-1. Nigeria took a first-half lead into the break after William Troost-Ekong scored off of a corner. But in the second half Simon Adingra and Sebastien haller dominated for the hosts, scoring and assisting the goals that would give them their third star.