AFCON Qualifiers – Renard Returns, Ghana Unravel, and Nigeria make Unwanted History

The opening rounds of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying — and the international friendlies that followed — have left many of the continent’s established contenders with plenty of areas to improve.

From Herve Renard’s return to Carlos Queiroz’s exit, head coaches have been high on the agenda during several weeks packed with controversy and storylines.

Here are our big talking points from African football during this extended international break.

Renard’s second coming starts strongly

Eleven years after leading Ivory Coast to the AFCON title, Renard returned with two victories, two clean sheets, and evidence that his second stint with the Elephants will be more than just a nostalgic journey.

The 2-0 victory over Ghana in Bouake was more convincing than the triumph over Somalia, with debutant Malick Yalcouyé opening the scoring, but the West Africans nonetheless showcased their strength off the bench to down the obdurate Ocean Stars.

The new faces — Yann Gboho also found the net — were evidence of Renard’s desire to refresh the squad, but the Frenchman must now focus on converting an excellent generation into tournament winners.

Six points represented the ideal start, with only seven other teams winning both of their opening games. Only two — Guinea-Bissau and Morocco — also did so without conceding.

Queiroz’s departure could do Ghana a favour

Portuguese veteran Carlos Queiroz — returning to the post after departing in the aftermath of their FIFA World Cup exit — wasn’t under pressure after that 2-0 defeat by the Elephants in Bouake, and had appeared to have turned things around in Accra as Ghana established a 2-0 lead against The Gambia.

However, after a remarkable collapse against the Scorpions, with the Black Stars falling to a 4-2 defeat, Queiroz was on the brink.

Fans harangued the coach during a poor second half, journalists confronted him in his post-match press conference, suggesting he’d be doing Ghana a favour if he left, and it wasn’t long before the GFA published the veteran’s farewell statement.

Queiroz aimed a shot at the federation on his way out, suggesting that “the necessary conditions were not fully established”.

Whomever the country’s football authorities turn to next will have a massive job on their hands to turn things around, end this disastrous AFCON run for the West African giants, and ensure they’re at Pamoja ’27 next year.

Nigeria’s historic defeat

The Super Eagles have endured more than their fair share of embarrassing setbacks over the years, but the 3-0 humiliation in Guinea-Bissau belongs right up there.

It wasn’t their worst in AFCON qualifying — Zambia beat them 5-1 in 1973 — while Algeria’s 5-1 triumph at the 1990 Nations Cup was a more recent aberration.

However, given Nigeria’s need to bounce back from failure to reach the World Cup, and given the optimism that had associated their run to the semifinals earlier this year, this was a particularly uncomfortable watch.

Goals from Franculino, Mama Baldé and Álvaro Djaló were no less than the hosts deserved during a one-sided display, and without Victor Osimhen, Eric Chelle’s team failed to ignite.

With AFCON hosts Tanzania also in their group, only one team will advance, and Nigeria now need a near-immaculate run, and potentially even a big home victory over Guinea-Bissau, to even qualify for the tournament itself.

Their come-from-behind 3-3 draw with Russia in this week’s friendly should restore some optimism, although November double-header against Tanzania now takes on mammoth proportions.

Marmoush steps up as Salah sits out

Egypt’s decision to excuse Mohamed Salah from their trip to South Sudan – ostensibly because of the artificial pitch in Juba – invited scrutiny following his early substitution in the 0-0 home draw with Angola, and at one point, threatened to overshadow their start to the qualifiers.

Head coach Hossam Hassan later cited ‘personal reasons’ as the explanation behind Salah’s absence from the second match, further fuelling speculation that all was not well behind the scenes.

However, his absence opened the door to Omar Marmoush — still finding his way at Tottenham Hotspur after an underwhelming World Cup — and the 27-year-old reaffirmed his class with a magnificent two-goal display against the minnows.

Egypt have been accused of being over-reliant on Salah for the best part of a decade, but if Marmoush – as well as an increasingly talented supporting class – can begin to chip in with match-winning displays, the Pharaohs can more confidently accelerate their transition away from their talisman.

Admin chaos threatens to undermine DRC progress

It’s been a wonderful year so far for the Democratic Republic of Congo, as they followed up an admirable AFCON campaign with qualification to their first World Cup, and then reached the knockouts in North America earlier this year, only narrowly falling short against England in the Round of 32.

Qualification for next year’s Nations Cup has also started strongly, with two wins out of two, as Sebastien Desabre’s side downed Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe.

However, their international break has ended on a low note, with Le Monde reporting that goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi played for the Leopards during their World Cup qualifiers despite his nationality switch from France not yet being validated by FIFA.

The French source suggests that FIFA opted not to impose sanctions on the DRC despite legal concerns within the organisation, and it remains to be seen how Nigeria — who lodged complaints against the eligibility of certain Congo players during that qualification campaign — will respond to these latest developments.

Congolese football will be concerned that this revelation risks overshadowing one of the greatest sporting years in their history.

Hosts have work to do on the field…

Automatic qualification means that tournament hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have plenty of time to prepare for June’s AFCON with competitive matches against other continental contenders.

Their returns during the window, however, were not impressive, with Kenya and Tanzania taking one point each from their two matches, while Uganda took four – including an away draw with Tunisia and a home victory over Libya.

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy, in particular, has work to do after seeing his side drop to 114th in the latest edition of the FIFA World Rankings – their lowest position in eight years.

Their 1-1 draw with Eritrea — a team ranked 75 places below the East Africans at the start of the international break — was particularly damaging for their FIFA Rankings, and ought to give Kenyans cause for concern with their tournament on home soil fast approaching.

…and off it as well

The hosts’ problems, it seems, extend beyond their on-field limitations.

While speculation was already mounting ahead of the international break that the trio had their work cut out to get their stadiums ready for the tournament, the subject of broader local logistics has become a talking point over the last weeks.

Kenya’s parliamentary inspection on October 1 assessed that the 60,000-capacity Talanta Stadium was on the brink of completion, but transport services and training pitches are lagging behind schedule.

Both they and Tanzania have set a December target for completion of wider tournament infrastructure.

In Uganda, CAF’s visit in September highlighted limitations to accommodation outside Kampala, while there’s been little visible progress around talk of a shared visa for visitors to the three countries for the duration of the competition.

It’s one thing to get the stadiums ready in time — already a challenge enough for the three countries — but supporting them with appropriate domestic logistics and facilities represents another mountain altogether for the three East African states to overcome.

Source: africa.espn.com