Youngest Managers to Win AFCON Ahead of Nigeria vs Ivory Coast 2023 Showdown

• Emerse Fae is in line to make history if he wins AFCON 2023 with Ivory Coast
• The hosts will play Nigeria in the final set for Sunday, February 11, in Abidjan
• Sports Brief takes a look at the youngest AFCON-winning managers in history

Emerse Fae has become the most popular man in Ivory Coast in the span of two weeks after guiding the national football team to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

After the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Equatorial Guinea, not many saw the host nations coming out of their group, let alone reach the final.

A Morocco win against Zambia allowed them to sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams.

They faced Senegal in the round of 16, dispatching the defending champions in the penalty shoot-outs. Further wins against Mali and DR Congo have put the two-time African champions on the verge of glory.

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On the day he turned 40 years old, Fae was handed the reigns of the national team after the Ivoran Federation sacked Jean-Louis Gasset. If he manages to beat Nigeria in the final, he will become one of the youngest managers to win the AFCON title.

Youngest managers to win AFCON

But who are the youngest managers to win the trophy? Sports Brief walks down memory lane and looks at the top five - or should we say the youngest five?

7. Herve Renard (Zambia 2012), Djamel Belmadi (Algeria 2019) - 43 years

Herve Renard was only 43 years old when he won his first AFCON title with Zambia. The French tactician led the Chipolopolo Stars in beating a Didier Drogba-led Ivory Coast in the final in Libreville, Gabon. He would later win the same title with Ivory Coast in 2015, but it is his first with Zambia that has been taken into consideration.

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Djamel Belmadi guided the Desert Foxes of Alegria to their second title on July 19, 2019, three months after he had turned 43 years old. Algeria played the final against Senegal in Cairo.

6. Ferenc Csanádi (Congo 1968) -42 years

The Hungarian manager led Congo-Kinshasa to victory in the 1968 final held in Ethiopia. They beat Ghana by a solitary goal.

The final was held on January 21, with Csanadi turning 43 years old two months later.

5. Claude Le Roy (Cameroon 1988) - 40 years

Le Roy was the brains behind the Cameroonian triumph in 1988 when they beat Nigeria on March 27. The French tactician had just turned 40 years old a month earlier, on February 6.

3. Blagoje Vidinić (Zaire 1974), Fred Osam-Duodu (Ghana 1978)- 39 years

Fred Osam-Duodu won Ghana's third AFCON title on home soil, beating Uganda in the March 16 final. Osam-Duodu was three months shy of his 40th birthday.

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Same case applies to Macedonian tactician Blagoje Vidinić, who helped Zaire beat Zambia in a two-legged final. The final was held on March 14, with Vidinić turning 40 on June 11.

2. Abdel-Fattah Hamad Abu-Zeid (Sudan 1970) -37 years

Abu-Zeid was the man who led Sudan to their first and only AFCON title to date. The Secretary Birds beat Ghana in the final on home soil on February 16.

The exact month and date Abu-Zeid was born is not known, but his birth year is listed as 1933, which puts him at around 37 years old at the time he won the trophy.

1. Charles Gyamfi (Ghana 1963)

The Ghanaian legend, alongside Hassan Shehata, is the most successful coach in the competition's history. He won his first trial with the Black Stars in 1963 when they beat Sudan 3-0 in Acrra on December 1.

Born on December 4 1929, he was only 33 when he first tasted AFCON glory. He would later win the 1965 and 1982 titles as well.

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Leagues with most players at AFCON 2023 final

Sports Brief has also compiled a list of the number of players each major league has in the AFCON 2023 final. Nigeria and Ivory Coast are peppered with stars plying their trade in top leagues in Europe.

England leads with a total of 11 players at the continental tournament - four from Ivory Coast and seven from Nigeria. Serge Aurier's recent move to Turkey sees the Super Lig climb to second place.