African Five-a-side (Maher Mezahi)

We're into the final four of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League and so this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast delves into a preview of Saturday's matches between Esperance de Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns and TP Mazembe versus Al Ahly.

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.

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we recap matchday 6 of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League. Timestamps in the comments below!

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Episode 3 of Matchday 1 of the African-five-a side podcast continues to explore the stories of five African heads of state and their influence on football. This week, we're introducing our striker: the practical and manipulative Mobutu Sese Seko

After consolidating power in Congo-Kinshasa during the Congo Crisis, Mobutu utilised a spike in copper to invest in the national football team, following a humiliating 3-0 loss to the Ghanaian Black Stars in May 1966. Mobutu's first point of order was to recall the "Belgicains", Congolese footballers that were poached by European clubs during the Congo Crisis. He also instituted his doctrine of authenticite to rebrand the national football team and rename them the "Leopards", after the leopard-printed hat that he always wore. Yet, after two Afcon titles, Zaire's participation at the 1974 FIFA World Cup so embarrassed Mobutu that he decided to divest from football. The Central African nation never again rose to the heights that it once did during that 7 year period between 1967-1974.

In retrospect, very few heads of state enjoyed as much success in such little time as Mobutu did with the Leopards. Very few heads of state also named their national football teams after their favourite piece of clothing. Nonetheless, Mobutu's significant success to the development of Congolese football make him a natural choice for our African heads of state five-a-side team.

*WE APOLOGISE ABOUT THE AUDIO QUALITY OF THIS EPISODE, WE MADE A ONE-TIME MISTAKE THAT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN*

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Esperance de Tunis and Al Ahly are set to battle it out during the second leg of the CAF Champions League final in Cairo. The first leg finished 0-0 in Tunis and with the away goals rule still in effect, all is to play for.

The semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations were just as entertaining as the rest of the tournament. Nigeria eeked past South Africa in the first match of the day after tension-filled penalty kicks. Cote d'Ivoire's victory over DR Congo was a much more calm affair, as Sebastien Haller fired The Elephants into the final

As hosts of the 2021 Afcon, Cameroon were one of the strongest sides in the tournament. Despite their brilliant showing, FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto'o decided to sack the manager and hire his former captain Rigobert Song. Since then the results have been mixed: Song helped the team qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but has also faced criticism for lacklustre results in qualifying.

To break down the Indomitable Lions, we spoke to Giovanni Bambe, a Cameroonian freelance journalist.

You can follow Giovanni here: https://twitter.com/BambeWanneh

In just a matter of week, Rhulani Mokwena left his job at Mamelodi Sundowns and signed with Wydad Casablanca. Is this a great rebound for Africa's best young tactician or is it a case of happy feet?

On the opening day of the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the host nation Cote d'Ivoire took care of business in beating Guinea-Bissau, 2-0. the Ivorian midfield was dominant, however, there are still outstanding questions regarding the rest of the team. here are my thoughts after an impressive day, one of the Africa Cup of Nations.

After a disastrous 2021 Afcon, and an improved 2022 FIFA World Cup performance, Ghanaian fans head into the 2023 Afcon with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Over the last six months, Ghana have really struggled to score and have been known as a cautious outfit under Chris Houghton. The solution? We spoke Ghanaian journalist Gary Al Smith to see what it is that he'd recommend.

You can follow Gary on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/garyalsmith

Episode 2 of Matchday 1 of the African-five-a side podcast continues to explore the stories of five African heads of state and their influence on football. This week, we're introducing our central defender: the intellectual, inspiring, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

As the first head of state of an independent Ghana, Nkrumah quickly understood the power of football as a unifying tool. He appointed Ohene Djan as the director of sports in 1960, and put in place structures to support the success of the national team, sometimes to the detriment of local clubs. Nkrumah's interest in soccer was so great that he proposed the formation of a model club to offer leadership and inspiration to other clubs in the country. This club was later named Real Republikans, and was nicknamed OOC—Osagyefo's Own Club.

The Black Stars, Ghana's national team, also scored a number of successes during Nkrumah's time in power. In 1960, Charles Gyamfi was named coach and quickly became the ideal candidate for the job. Under Gyamfi's leadership, the team produced many great players, including Baba Yara, Edward Aggrey-Fynn, Wilberforce Mfum, and Ben Acheampong.

In 1963, Ghana hosted the Africa Cup of Nations and won, and they repeated the feat in 1965 in Tunisia. In 1964, Nkrumah donated 250 guineas for the creation of the African Clubs Championship, which became known as the Kwame Nkrumah Cup. Later that year, the Black Stars became the first African nation south of the Sahara to play at the Olympics, held in Tokyo.

Nkrumah's side were considered one of the favorites to qualify for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, but Djan and the Confederation of African Football decided to proceed with a boycott of the tournament instead, as part of the wider African protest against FIFA's refusal to allocate a guaranteed qualifying place to the continent. Just a few weeks after Ghana won the 1965 Afcon, Nkrumah was deposed by a coup d'etat as he was out of the country.

In retrospect, very few heads of state enjoyed as much success with their national football teams as he did in the short period of time that he did. His significant contributions to the development of the Confederation of African Football also make him a natural choice for our African heads of state five-a-side team.

This week we discuss the first leg of the African Football League final between Wydad Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns. The match gives us a perfect opportunity to profile their star young coach and ask: Do the South African champions have what it takes to hurdle that final obstacle and win a continental trophy?

We also name our team of the week and highlight the performances of a couple of Braga stars that are underrated on the continent.

Today's matches in the round of 16 feature a Salah-less Egypt taking on a red-hot DR Congo national team. The early match will feature the tournament's cinderella story, Equatorial Guinea versus Guinea-Conakry

The 2024 Paris Olympics are over, and it's almost time for the beginning of another footballing season. We quickly recap how African countries did at the Olympics and highlight five Africans that have switched clubs that could impress this season in their respective leagues.

Angola make their return to the Africa Cup of Nations with coach Pedro Goncalves at their helm. Goncalves led the Angola U17 team to a Round of 16 berth at the U17 World Cup in 2019. Now he takes that same generation of players, with a few experienced players to Cote d'Ivoire to try and build on that success.

We speak to Eurico Costa who breaks down Angola's expectations for us.

You can follow Eurico here: https://twitter.com/passevertical

In the second leg of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League, Al Ahly beat Esperance de Tunis 1-0. Ramy Rabia forced an own goal in the opening five minutes, giving Al Ahly their 12th Champions League title. Host Maher Mezahi analyzed the match to cap off our Champions League coverage.

TIMESTAMPS:

01:30 - TP Mazembe vs MC Algiers recap

07:37 - Young Africans vs Al Hilal recap

17:18 - Mamelodi Sundowns vs Maniema Union recap

19:11 - CR Belouizdad vs Orlando Pirates recap

25:03 - Pyramids vs Sagrada Esperanca recap

27:59 - Esperance vs Djoliba

In this episode of the African football round-up, we recap the first matchday of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League. It was a round of matches in which some of Africa's top young talent showed up as Orlando Pirates stole a match in Algiers, last year's finalists Esperance and Ahly dominated, and Sundowns disappointed.

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Russian and waiting: https://africasacountry.com/2024/11/rushing-in

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All across the continent, we had our eyes on the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup draw. We took the opportunity to give our first thoughts on how the groups are made up.

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We now know who is in what group of the 2025 Afcon qualifiers, and so we decide to do a group-by-group preview of the qualifiers with some initial thoughts just a few months before they kick-off

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.

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we preview matchday 6 of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League. Timestamps in the comments below!

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We're back with a mailbag episode of the African football round-up!

We asked you, the listeners, for your questions on African football and you sent them in. In this episode, we talk about reforming the CAF Champions League, how smaller nations in Africa have improved, the Saudi-CAF partnership, as well as how Sudan's big clubs are playing in exile in Mauritania.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

The appearance of democracy: https://africasacountry.com/2024/09/the-apperance-of-democracy

Sudan's cultural devastation: https://africasacountry.com/2024/09/sudans-cultural-devastation

Follow us on social media:

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With the 2023 CAF Awards just a week away, Maher Mezahi explains that he was selected as part of a media panel to vote on the awards and reveals how he voted.

It was a fascinating tactical battle between the Moroccan Atlas Lions and the South African Bafana boys. Both sides played cautiously, but it would be the South Africans that made less technical errors and came away with a victory. In the early match, Burkina Faso were no match for Mali who found their identity with a diamond 4-4-2.M

The 2023 CAF Awards were largely uneventful, and so this week we're using the African Football Round-up for some tier talk. We take a brief look at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which will kick-off in about a months' time and categorise the 24 teams into four categories: favourites, contenders, dark horses, and "happy to be here".

In the penultimate day of matchday 2 Algeria nicked a draw against Burkina Faso, but we discuss how it is that Algeria have become so stale. We also discuss the entertaining match between Mauritania and Angola, and how Mali and Tunisia shared the spoils

In this episode we'll revisit John Obi Mikel's appearance on Rio Ferdinand's podcast where he talks about family manipulation. From there we trace some of the challenges star African footballers face on a day-to-day basis and why that can make them vulnerable, but also capable of much more than your average footballer.

Side note: Apologies for not releasing a podcast last Monday, I was in Tunis on a shoot for the Africa Cup of Nations. As a result, we're going to skip an African Five-a-side podcast this Friday and pick it back up next week.

In this new episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we preview the upcoming international break as the African continent gets set to host the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Some of the dominant narratives take place in Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.

TIMESTAMPS:

01:26 - Discussion on VAR in the CAF Champions League

06:54 - TP Mazembe vs Young Africans review

15:17 - Stade d'Abidjan vs Orlando Pirates review

21:14 - Mouloudia Algiers vs Al Hilal review

31:24 - Esperance vs Pyramids review

37:14 - Mamelodi Sundowns vs Raja review

Matchday 3 of the CAF Champions League has come and gone. Al Hilal and Esperance de Tunis continued to cruise the competition, but real questions have emerged about the necessity of VAR in the CAF Champions League. In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we review Matchday 3 of the African Champions League.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

Africa’s sibling rivalry: https://africasacountry.com/2024/12/africas-sibling-rivalry

Tyla and the politics of ambiguity: https://africasacountry.com/2024/12/tyla-and-the-politics-of-ambiguity

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In the second leg of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League, Esperance de Tunis and Al Ahly put in mature performances and managed to qualify past TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns

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.

TIMESTAMPS:

04:47 - Sagrada Esperança vs Esperance de Tunis review

09:15 - Orlando Pirates vs Al Ahly review

19:19 - Stade d'Abidjan vs CR Belouizdad review

24:20 - Mouloudia Algiers vs Young Africans review

27:12 - AS FAR vs Mamelodi Sundowns review

30:05 - Djoliba vs Pyramids FC preview

31:58 - Al Hilal vs TP Mazembe preview

We snoozed through 7/8 matches of matchday 2 of the CAF Champions League. Most matches were affected by high temperatures, long distances travelled and some stadiums being in altitude. In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we review Matchday 2 of the African Champions League.

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Taking a stand documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rM8_n0Xjqw

Taking a stand article: https://africasacountry.com/2024/05/taking-a-stand

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In the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals Victor Osimhen and Nigeria got a goal past Angola and qualified to the semi-finals. And DR Congo comfortably advanced past Guinea into the final four as well.

TIMESTAMPS:

03:15 - Group A preview

11:18 - Group B preview

13:49 - Group C preview

16:41 - Group D preview

19:22 - Group E and F preview

20:43 - Group G preview

22:29 - Group H preview

24:22 - Group I preview

25:41 - Group J preview

26:58 - Group K preview

27:56 - Group L preview

In this episode of the African football round-up, we preview the final two matchdays of 2025 Afcon qualifying. Some teams have qualified, some are eliminated, and some have all to play for! Everything is on the line for world football's greatest tournament.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

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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?

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 Day 11 of the Africa Cup of Nations, we went to Bouaké to watch Algeria vs Mauritania and Cameroon vs The Gambia. Algeria crashed out in the group stages for the second consecutive year, while Cameroon squeaked past The Gambia in Group C.

My 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is over, but the tournament rolls on. Today we're back with a semi-final preview of Wednesday's matches. We delve into the Nigeria vs South Africa match in particular detail with a tactical breakdown of the match-up.

Day two of the Africa Cup of Nations was full of surprises, as Nigeria started the day by drawing with Equatorial Guinea, Egypt followed that up by drawing with Mozambique, and Ghana finished it off by falling to Cape Verde.

In the final day of matchday 2, Morocco were tied up by DR Congo and it finished with a dust-up between Walid Regragui and Chancel Mbemba. Tanzania made their return after coach Adel Amrouche was suspended by CAF and fired by the Tanzanian Football Federation. Finally, South Africa trounced Namibia and won 4-0.

The second leg of the quarterfinals of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League took place on Saturday evening as TP Mazembe travelled to Luanda to take on Petro and Esperance travelled to Abidjan to take on ASEC Mimosas.

The Congolese and Tunisian champions came away victorious on the evening and now set up juicy quarterfinals against Al Ahly and Sundowns in two weeks' time.

In this episode, we discuss women's welterweight boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and how Imane Khelif has found herself in the middle of a culture war with people calling her 'male' or 'trans'. We try to rectify some of those lies and delve into who Khelif is as a person

My take on the bullying Imane Khelif has faced: https://africasacountry.com/2024/08/rolling-with-the-punches

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

All of the goings on in the world of African football, week of 10/16-10/23.

Over the weekend, the African football league kicked off and we discuss if the competition is good or bad for African football. We also ask the question: is this a FIFA or CAF competition?

We also take a little time to speak to Bassil Mikdadi of Football Palestine, who tells us about the challenges facing the Palestinian national team and its players.

Friday night's two matches had very different tones. While Tanzania's Yanga pushed AFL champions, Mamelodi Sundowns to the brink, their compatriots, Simba, couldn't muster up the same fight vs Al Ahly of Egypt.

In this episode we discuss the general ideas of idealism versus pragmatism and if Sundowns are fit to overcome mental hurdles

Palestine at Afcon article: https://africasacountry.com/2024/02/palestine-at-afcon

Let's have a relaxing chat about third-place matches and how and why we think tonight's match will unfold as it will

On the second day of Round of 16 play, Equatorial Guinea made a couple critical errors and lost to Guinea-Conakry. Egypt and DR Congo duked it out, but Sebastien Desabre's men came away victorious after penalty kicks.

Today's matches in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro were crackers! Cape Verde scored two great goals against Mozambique en route to a 3-0 rout. In the marquee match of the day, Senegal outclassed Cameroon in almost every aspect of the game, winning 3-1. Finally, Guinea scraped past The Gambie despite not having key players available to them.

In this reaction video we celebrate the life and legacy of Rachid Mekhloufi as it's been reported that he passed away in Paris at the age of 88

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During the first leg of the 2023/2024 CAF Champions League semi-finals, Esperance de Tunis nullified Mamelodi Sundowns' attacking threat and managed to win by a goal at home. Meanwhile Al Ahly left Lubumbashi with a nil-nil draw

Egypt were Afcon finalists in 2017 and 2021. They missed out on the last Afcon title and the 2022 World Cup after losing to Senegal in penalty shoot-outs.

So what does this year's Egypt look like? Are they a continuation of those sides which were much more pragmatic, or - under the tutelage of their new coach, Rui Vitoria - are they more a callback to the golden age of Egyptian football?

To dissect all of these questions, we have Mohamed Quotb on as a special guest.

You can follow Mohamed here: https://twitter.com/MoQoutb

You can follow the African Five-a-side podcast here: https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

The 2023 Afcon quarterfinals are set to kick off tomorrow and so we break down the four matches including Cote d'Ivoire vs Mali, Nigeria vs Angola, DR Congo vs Guinea and Cape Verde vs South Africa

TIMESTAMPS:

01:05 - Which countries have never qualified for the Afcon?

04:10 - How teams have qualified for the Afcon over the last ten years

11:54 - Does CAR have what it takes?

16:24 - Raoul Savoy interview

34:32 - Abdul Musa interview

In this episode of the African football round-up, we ask the question: what does it take to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations?

To answer the question we looked at what nations that qualified to their first Afcon did over the last decade or so. We also spoke to Central African Republic coach Raoul Savoy and interviewed him as we believe that they could be next!

We also spoke to Abdul Musa to find out how Sudan have been playing great football despite domestic political problems.

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We are just about set for the group stages of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League group stages. Before the draw, we figured it would be the perfect time to speak about the teams that qualified and point out who are favourites, surprises and "question mark" teams were.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

From Naija to Abidjan: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/09/from-naija-to-abidjan

The freedom to move: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/09/the-freedom-to-move

Follow us on social media:

https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

https://www.tiktok.com/@african.fiveaside

https://www.instagram.com/africanfiveside/

TIMESTAMPS:

01:41 - TP Mazembe vs MC Algiers

09:59 - Young Africans vs Al Hilal

16:10 - Mamelodi Sundowns vs Maniema Union

19:50 - Raja vs AS FAR

22:17 - Al Ahly vs Stade d'Abidan

25:52 - CR Belouizdad vs Orlando Pirates

31:05 - Pyramids vs Sagrada Esperanca

32:41 - Esperance vs Djoliba

In this episode of the African football round-up, we preview the first matchday of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League. We take a look at all eight matches and make predictions about their outcomes. We're particularly looking forward to watching newcomers such as Maniema Union and Djoliba make their mark.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

Why are African artefacts everywhere but Africa: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/11/why-are-african-artifacts-everywhere-but-africa

Follow us on social media:

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The third day of the round of 16 will feature the biggest match of this Africa Cup of Nations so far when Cote d'Ivoire host Senegal in Yamoussoukro. In the other match of the day the two 'giant killers' Cape Verde and Mauritania will do battle in Abidjan.

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

After missing out on the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa are returning to Africa's biggest party with some renewed confidence. Part of that is due to the success of Mamelodi Sundowns in Interclub competitions, and another part of it is the good work Belgian coach, Hugo Broos, has done with Bafana Bafana.

To discuss all of this we speak to SABC journalist Velile Mnyandu.

You can follow Velile on twitter here: https://twitter.com/Velile_Mnyandu

This week we discuss the second leg of the African Football League final between Wydad Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns. We reflect on how Rhulani Mokwena passed his toughest test with flying colors and what that means for his future. Host Maher Mezahi also justifies how he voted for Club of the Year during the 2023 CAF Awards. We also name our team of the week and highlight the performances of Ivorian defenders who could be stalwarts for the host nation at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

Matchday 1, our first set of episodes of the African Five-a-side podcast, takes a look at African football’s most influential politicians. Before we name the five most important politicians in African football history, we will draw up a list of honorable mentions.

The father of Nigerian nationalism, Nnamdi Azikiwe, is the first name on the team sheet. In this episode, we dissect how he used the media and his own sports club to galvanize support for Nigerian independence during the goodwill tours of 1941 and 1942.

Algeria's first president, Ahmed Ben Bella, takes up a seat next to Azikiwe. Ben Bella was a footballer in his local city of Maghnia prior to the Second World War. When the war broke out, Ben Bella was stationed in Marseille. Prior to heavy fighting, he displayed his skills at the military base. His performances earned him a cameo with Chateau-Gombert and Olympique de Marseille.

Muammar Gaddafi is the final man on the bench. Although he wasn't the biggest football fan, there can be no denying that he understood how to instrumentalize football to serve his own political machinations. Professional sport was banned during the first years of his reign, and it only returned under certain conditions. According to legend, in his inaugural address during the opening ceremony of the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations, Gaddafi finished his speech curtly: “Now, I leave you with your stupid game.”

So that’s the eclectic group of fellows that make the bench of our first Five-a-side team.

TIMESTAMPS:

01:40 - Senegal vs Malawi analysis

08:44 - Egypt vs Mauritania analysis

15:08 - Algeria vs Togo analysis

19:20 - Morocco vs Central African Republic analysis

24:32 - Tunisia vs Comoros analysis

29:57 - Ghana vs Sudan analysis

In this episode of the African football round-up, we head to the film room to break down some of the matches we watched in matchday 3 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

We were impressed by Pape Thiaw's Senegal, Vladimir Petkovic's Algeria, Walid Regragui's Morocco and Hossam Hassan's Egypt. Ghana and Tunisia were the two teams that we were not impressed by.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

What does Africa want?: https://africasacountry.com/2024/10/what-does-africa-want

Fuel's Errand: https://africasacountry.com/2024/10/fuels-errand

Follow us on social media:

https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

https://www.tiktok.com/@african.fiveaside

https://www.instagram.com/africanfiveside/

TIMESTAMPS:

02:09 - Can Niger keep up momentum?

11:44 - Emilio Nsue suspension

22:42 - Is the CAF CL getting boring?

27:53 - How can West African clubs compete in CAF CL?

36:05 - Should CAF introduce Nations League?

This episode of the African football round-up, is a mailbag episode where we answer the questions that you send in! We answer questions about a possible CAF Nations League, West African clubs in the CAF CL, Emilio Nsue and the Niger national team

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

FIFA decision on Emilio Nsue: https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/451be0f530729bab/original/Mr-Emilio-Nsue-Lopez_10052024.pdf

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Zambia were surprisingly good in Afcon qualifiers going head-to-head with Côte d'Ivoire. Their resurgence has been credited with the arrival of coach Avram Grant, who brings a cool and calm demeanour. At the Afcon they'll be exciting when attacking, but they need to shore up their naive defence.

We spoke to Buster Kirchner about the Chipolopolo.

You can follow Buster here: https://twitter.com/BusterEmil

Day 5 of the Africa Cup of Nations saw Morocco take on Tanzania and DR Congo play Zambia. Morocco confirmed what they showed a year and a half ago in Qatar, while DR Congo showed a lot of promise but were held by the Chipolopolo.

We start the round of 16 today as the Nigerian Super Eagles take on the Cameroonian Indomitable Lions in Abidjan, but before that heavyweight bout Angola will host Namibia in Bouaké.

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Morocco shocked the world when they became the first African nation to qualify for the semi-finals. Walid Regragui and co played organised, coherent football and are naturally favourites for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire.

To speak about Morocco, we invited Amine El Amri, a journalist that writes for Le Matin newspaper in Morocco.

You can follow Amine on twitter here: https://twitter.com/Amine_Elamri

This week we look back on what exactly happened between USM of Algiers and RS Berkane in the semi-final of the CAF Confederation Cup. Their scheduled match was never actually played because of a political controversy that we try to explain

On Day 13, we had our first day off of the Afcon. We spent the day at a FIFA workshop learning about the FIFA Forward program and the Talent Development Scheme. Finally, we finish today's diary with a team of the round for the tournament so far.

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

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.

In this episode of the African football round-up, we analyse the 2024 CAF African player of the year longest and whittle it down to a few candidates that we think are deserving of the African player of the year award.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

The mine dumps of Silicon Valley: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/10/the-mine-dumps-of-silicon-valley

Follow us on social media:

https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

https://www.tiktok.com/@african.fiveaside

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2025 Afcon qualifying is officially a wrap, so we took the time to power rank all 24 teams that have qualified for Morocco 2025 and we reflect on our thoughts on the teams from what we’ve seen over the last three months

Africa Is A Country YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29aKwRSbAQKhcNc8DqyETg

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

Liberation is not propaganda: https://africasacountry.com/2024/11/liberation-is-not-propaganda

Not exactly at arm’s length: https://africasacountry.com/2024/11/not-exactly-at-arms-length

Follow us on social media:

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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!

"Kenneth Kaunda was a rarity: an African President who not only backed football, but [also] actually liked it" - David Goldblatt. In the final episode of Matchday 1 of the African Five-a-side podcast, we profile Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda. Kaunda so loved football and supported the national teal that they were nicknamed the "KK11" in honour of him. We also explore how Kaunda got parastatal conglomerates in Zambia's Copperbelt to sponsor domestic clubs and spur local football development.

*Special thanks to the research of Dr. Hikabwa Chipande and his extensive research on this subject which served as the basis for this episode.

TIMESTAMPS:

02:12 - Ghana vs Sudan breakdown

15:57 - Reviewing Senegal's six points and previewing their big coaching decision

20:21 - Tunisia are rudderless

24:45 - Morocco are still flying

27:16 - Algeria are coming along nicely

28:44 - Egypt, Cameroon, DR Congo, Angola have qualified to the Afcon

33:08 - Sudan, Mali and South Africa make good progress but not through yet

37:15 - Match-ups to look out for in November

In this episode of the African football round-up, we summarise what we learned from matchday 4 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

We talk about how Ghana have to do a hard reset, how Tunisia are rudderless due to a skeleton federation, and we discuss who Senegal should target as their next coach.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

The mine dumps of Silicon Valley: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/10/the-mine-dumps-of-silicon-valley

This is not the Black Stars level, we’ve mismanaged our way there: https://3news.com/sports/this-is-not-the-black-stars-level-weve-mismanaged-our-way-there/

Follow us on social media:

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The international break has begun!

Salim Masoud Said joins to speak about Emerse Fae and Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco and Regragui, and Tanzanian fans' no-show to support the Taifa Stars. Cameroonian journalist Giovanni Wanneh also joins to explain what is happening between the ministry of sport and the football federation in his country.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

Follow us on social media:

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Day 10 of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations was the craziest in a very long time. It started off with Côte d'Ivoire losing at home 4-0 as Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau 1-0. The evening fixtures saw Egypt draw with Cape Verde 2-2 and Ghana draw with Mozambique 2-2.

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we recap this weekend's action at the Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. We also give our takeaways between Pyramids FC and Zamalek as well as RS Berkane and AS FAR.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

Jacob Zuma’s enduring relevance: https://africasacountry.com/2025/01/jacob-zumas-enduring-relevance

Follow us on social media:

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As we close in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the African Five-a-side podcast has decided to put aside matchdays for now and, instead, focus on previewing every.single.team that will compete in the tournament.

First up? Algeria. The 2019 champions have had a tough two years, so we invited Hamza Rahmani - a commentator for Bein Sports - to come on and break down how confident Algeria are at the moment and how he thinks they'll do in Cote D'Ivoire

You can follow Hamza here: https://twitter.com/hmzrhmn

And you can follow the African Five-a-side podcast here: https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

In the first matchday of the round of 16, Nigeria put Cameroon to the sword as Ademola Lookman scored a brace and the hapless Indomitable Lions couldn't respond. The other match of the day saw Angola take care of Namibia despite facing some early adversity when their goalkeeper was sent off in the 17th minute

In this episode of the African Football Roundup we recap the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Africa and outline some of the good we saw as well as some of the bad.

Egypt, Senegal and South Africa displayed reasons for optimism. Egypt under Rui Vitoria are one of Africa's most coherent sides, Senegal have a new midfield pairing with Pape Matar Sarr and Lamine Camara - that's not fair. And with the Sundowns boys, are Bafana back?

The bad comes from West Africa. Nigeria come away from the qualifiers with just 2 points in 2 matches, while Ghana look a bit stale under new coach Chris Hughton. Despite their recent win versus Madagascar, we think they might struggle to make the 2026 World Cup in the Americas.

Last night, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations served us an instant classic when hosts Cote d'Ivoire took on Senegal in the round of 16. Despite a terrible group stage performance, Cote d'Ivoire bounced back by eliminating defending champions Senegal in Yamoussoukro.

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we recap matchday 5 of the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League.

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In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we recap the winter transfer window to examine which clubs best re-tooled ahead of the knockout stages of the CAF Interclub competitions, and we also recapped some major moves African footballers made in Europe.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

The Inheritance of Hope: https://africasacountry.com/2025/01/t...

Algeria and France's endless rift: https://africasacountry.com/2025/02/a...

The sixth day of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations saw Equatorial Guinea take the battle of the Guineas in Group A. Nigeria got a much-needed three points versus hosts Cote d'Ivoire and Egypt slugged it out against Ghana for a 2-2 draw.

Follow Alex Cizmic here: https://twitter.com/AlexCizmic

Follow Alasdair Howorth here: https://twitter.com/ahoworth97

The draw for the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League took place this Thursday so we reacted to the matchups that were drawn for the quarterfinals

Last weekend, Jamie Carragher made headlines when he mentioned that Mo Salah might be less respected for Ballon D'Or voting because he represents Egypt in international football and competes in the Africa Cup of Nations, which he doesn't believe is a "major" tournament.

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?

In the final day of matchday 3 and the group stages we saw a real lack of goals. South Africa and Tunisia went scoreless, Namibia and Mali also played a nil-nil, as did Tanzania and DR Congo. Morocco scored the day's only goal against Zambia which ensured they finished first and the group and also sent Cote d'Ivoire into the round of 16.

1958 Ahmed Sekou Touré campaigned so that Guineans would vote "No" in a referendum on whether to adopt the new French constitution or reject it and opt for independence. As the first leader of independent Guinea, Touré focused on wide-ranging educational reform which included encourage sport for the masses at a grassroots level. Yet, after witnessing the success of Kwame Nkrumah's Black Stars, Touré decides that it's time to use football as a diplomatic tool. Cherif Souleymane, Petit Sory, Papa Camara, Bengally Sylla, Maxime Camara and N'Jo Lea are some of the names that end up comprising the great Guinean generation of 1972-1978, which was spurred by Touré's political philosophy. In episode 4 of the African Five-a-side podcast, we'll relive those golden years and trace over the Africa Cup of Champions Clubs triumphs and how they were instrumentalised by Touré and the PDG.

The Nigerian Super Eagles come to Côte d'Ivoire with one of the most stacked squads in the tournament, especially in attack. Yet, results in recent times have been disappointing.

We speak to one of the most well-respected journalists in Africa, Oluwashina Okeleji, about Nigeria and their prospects in the upcoming Afcon.

TIMESTAMPS:

02:07 - Maher Mezahi on Paradou

17:12 - Lorenz Kohler on Stellenbosch

33:58 - Salim Masoud Said on Azam

In this episode of the African football round-up, we take a look at three non mainstream African clubs: Paradou, Stellenbosch and Azam. Maher Mezahi breaks down Paradou while Lorenz Kohler and Salim Masoud Said analyse Stellenbosch and Azam.

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

The real Rwanda: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/10/the-real-rwanda

João Lourenço’s American pivot: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/10/joao-lourencos-amercan-pivot

The end of Mozambique’s two-party system: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/10/the-end-of-mozambiques-two-party-system

Follow us on social media:

https://twitter.com/AfricanFiveSide

https://www.tiktok.com/@african.fiveaside

In this episode of the African Five-a-side podcast, we go position by position and name who we thought were the best players of the CAF Champions League group stages. Let us know who you think we missed out on!

This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

Follow us on social media:

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TIMESTAMPS:

06:42 - Niger vs Sudan analysis

17:12 - Benin vs Nigeria analysis

26:40 - Angola vs Ghana analysis

32:58 - Uganda vs South Africa analysis

37:06 - Botswana vs Mauritania analysis

40:20 - Algeria vs Equatorial Guinea analysis

In this episode of the African football round-up, we head to the film room to break down some of the matches we during matchday 5 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

We were not impressed by Nigeria's defending versus Benin as the likes of Troost-Ekong and Bassey made simple errors. Sudan's undoing was more of a stylistic issue versus Niger. We also briefly speak on Angola vs Ghana, Uganda vs South Africa, Botswana vs Mauritania and Algeria vs Equatorial Guinea

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This podcast is brought to you by: www.africasacountry.com

This week's must-reads:

Mozambique and the politics of popular uprising: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/11/mozambique-and-the-politics-of-popular-uprising

Ruto’s Kenya: https://www.africasacountry.com/2024/11/rutos-kenya

Follow us on social media:

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https://www.instagram.com/africanfiveside/

Episode 1 of Matchday 1 of the African-five-a side podcast continues to explore the stories of five African heads of state and their influence on football. This week, we're introducing our goalkeeper: the tall, suave, chain-smoking Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Why did we choose such a prominent figure in the non-aligned movement as our goalkeeper? Well, Nasser was known for his height, charisma, and exceptional communication skills—although his interest in football remains uncertain.

Nasser came from a humble background, with a postal worker father, and spent much of his childhood in rural areas. He entered the military academy in 1937, where he met his future ally Abdelhakim Amer and successor, Anwar Sadat. Nasser's experiences as a young officer during the British-imposed regime changes in World War II and his service in the Egyptian armed forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war had a profound impact on him.

After returning home, Nasser joined the Free Officers movement, which successfully executed a coup d'etat in 1952, transforming Egypt into a republic. Subsequently, Nasser started leveraging football for political purposes.

During his presidency, Nasser was named honorary president of Al Ahly SC and utilized the Cairo derby to raise funds for war efforts. At Nasser’s directive, Egypt boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1965 Africa Cup of Nations, and also interrupted all footballing activities at the outbreak of the 1967 Six-Day War. While he may not have been the most football-obsessed leader, Nasser skillfully utilized politics to enhance sports and vice versa. His significant contributions to the establishment of the Confederation of African Football make him a natural choice for our African heads of state five-a-side team.

Prior to the CAF Champions League final, we speak to Al Ahly fan Ahmed Assem about the prospects of the Red Devils securing their record-extending 12th title in the competition. We also ponder the existence of football DNA and ask: What makes Al Ahly Al Ahly?

Welcome to a special episode of the African football round-up as the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers kick off!

Throughout the history of the FIFA World Cup, Africa has often found itself underrepresented. We trace back the journey to guaranteed qualification including the continent boycotting the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

We then ask if 9.5 qualifying places is the right number. We think that 9.5 ensures there are enough places for top African sides and doesn’t dilute quality.

Finally we recap the first day of qualifying including three David vs Goliath matchups including: Egypt vs Djibouti, Algeria vs Somalia and Nigeria vs Lesotho

Welcome to a new year in African football!

We kick off year 2 of the African Five-a-side podcast with the first edition of the African Football-Round up and looking ahead to the upcoming international break! This year we'll be rotating guest hosts, and for our first show, we have brought on Salim Masoud Said to talk about Regragui, Morocco, Saintfiet, Mali, McKinstry, The Gambia, Algeria and Tanzania! We also speak to the new coach of the Gambian men's national football team, Johnny McKinstry.

Enjoy!

How will the Carthage Eagles fare in Côte d'Ivoire?

The North Africans have perfected the art of qualifying for the Afcon - they haven't missed a tournament since 1992. Yet, they are also to win the tournament off of home soil.

We talk to Arafat Hamrouni, a Tunisian journalist that works for www.foot24.tn about how Tunisians are bored of the same old small successes and how they really want to make a final of the Afcon or win it.

However, over the past year, Msakni and co have blown hot and cold.