The AFCON 2021 tournament kicked off on Sunday, 9th January 2022 with excitement particularly among lovers of the game of football.

Naija News recalls the tournament holding in Cameroon should have been held last year but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Below are the latest happenings from the tournament.

#AFCON2021: Cameroon Comes Back Against Burkina Faso

Vincent Aboubakar’s brace set the tone for hosts Cameroon, who came from behind to defeat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opening game of the 2021 AFCON on Sunday.
Burkina Faso took an unexpected lead through Gustavo Sangare’s volleyed goal midway through the first half.

However, Aboubakar converted two first-half penalties to give Cameroon their second AFCON victory over Burkina Faso.

Sangare scored the tournament’s opening goal on 24 minutes, just seconds after Bertrand Traore’s header was cleared off the line.

The ball was worked back into the box, Andre Onana came close but came up short, and Sangare volleyed in at the back post with aplomb.

Read more

#AFCON2021: Cape Verde Gains Three Points Against Ethiopia

Cape Verde began their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 victory over Ethiopia on Sunday with Julio Tavares scoring the game-winning goal.
Cape Verde took the lead in the first half of the game in Yaounde after Ethiopia’s defender Yared Bayeh was sent off after just 12 minutes.

Ethiopia faced an uphill battle after Bayeh’s yellow card was upgraded to a red following a VAR review of his tackle on Tavares as the Cape Verdean ran through on goal.

Teklemariam Shanko made an outstanding save to claw the ball away from danger after Ethiopian defender Mignot Debebe diverted a cross towards his own goal.

Read more

That will be all for now. More updates will be made available as the tournament progresses.

This article was originally published on Naija News