AFCON 2023: The Only Team to Exit Without Scoring and a List of Other Goal Scoring Extremes

• AFCON 2023 is literally around the corner and the tournament has a treasure chest of statistics
• The youngest and oldest goal-scorers are 23 years apart, while four have scored in six editions
• South Africa have a dubious record to their name while two teams kept tournament clean sheets

Goals make tournaments and those stats accumulate over time.

Each moment across the 90 minutes, and sometimes 120 and the 12-yard lottery, is placed layer upon layer until it can be read like a bible of footballing lore.

Sports Brief takes a peek inside a few of the statistics around goals scored at AFCON since 1957.

AFCON goal-scoring records

1. Youngest and oldest AFCON scorers

Egyptian stalwart, Hossam Hassan was 190 days short of his 40th birthday when he scored his last AFCON goal in 2006. The Pharaohs beat DR Congo 4-1 in the quarter-finals en route to winning the competition.

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On the other of the age spectrum, then-16-year-old Shiva N'Zigou scored the opening goal in a 2000 AFCON group game against South Africa.

Bafana Bafana would win 3-1 and Gabon would go home early, while N'Zigou would make headlines 18 years later when confessing to a traumatic childhood and career, as reported by Marca.

2. Early starts and late heartbreakers

Seven players have netted in the opening minutes but Egypt's Ayman Mansour was the fastest ever. He scored after 23 seconds as The Pharaohs beat Gabon in 1994, as per The Heritage Times.

Last-minute goals can be soul-crushing or moments of jubilation, depending on which part of the stadium one is sitting.

Gabon's Bruno Mbanongoye scored a 100th-minute winner against Morocco to help them top their group in 2012.

Zambia's Brighton Sinyangwe scored a 120th-minute equaliser against Zaire as the two teams drew 2-2 in the 1974 third-place playoff.

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3. Most consistent AFCON scorers

Four players have scored in six consecutive AFCONs. Ghana's Asamoah Gyan (2008 - 2017), Zambia's Kalusha Bwalya (1986 - 2000), and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o (2000 - 2010) are the three whose streak has ended for good.

Ghana's Andre Ayew could become the sole record holder with seven if he can net in 2023. Tunisia's Youssef Msakni could join the club if he is able to score in Ivory Coast, having scored in the last five editions.

One-off team statistics

1. South Africa in 2006

Bafana Bafana hold the shameful record of being the only nation to exit an AFCON without registering a goal.

In a group eerily similar to their 2023 task, South Africa began their tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Mali's West African neighbours, Guinea. They followed that up with a 2-0 defeat to Tunisia before a COSAFA rival hammered in the decisive blow.

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Featuring Orlando Pirates' Isaac Chansa, Free State Stars' Kennedy Mweene, and match-winner Chris Katongo of Jomo Cosmos, Zambia sent South Africa packing before January was over with a 1-0 win.

2. A tournament clean sheet

The wisest will say that 'defence wins championships' and in the case of the Indomitable Lions of 2002, Cameroon kept six clean sheets on the way to the 2002 title.

They blanked DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Togo, Egypt, Mali, and then Senegal in the final.

Ivory Coast repeated the feat in 2012, shutting out Sudan, Burkina Faso, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Mali and Zambia, but unlike Cameroon, lost the penalty shootout in the final.

3. Those yet to participate

10 CAF affiliates have zero AFCON goals, having not participated in any of the AFCONs in the last 66 years.

Islanders, Seychelles and Sao Tome and Principe join landlocked Southern Africans, Lesotho and Swaziland.

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Central African Republic, Chad, and South Sudan are the central nations while Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia wrap up the list from East Africa.

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AFCON teams dressing in style

Sports Brief previously reported on how fashion was taking centre stage at AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast.

Guinea's colourful arrival surpassed that of both Nigeria and Ghana, who had dominated with their styles.

Namibia represented their country in a patriotic fashion wearing attire bearing the colours of their flag.