2023 Africa Cup of Nations Group D

Group D of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations took place from 15 to 23 January 2024.^[1] The group consisted of Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Angola.^[2]

Angola and Burkina Faso as the top two teams, along with Mauritania as one of the four best third-placed teams, advanced to the round of 16.

Notes

All times are local, GMT (UTC±0).

Algeria and Angola met for the 10th time, and the most recent meeting was at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, which Angola hosted that year. A goalless draw between the nations in Luanda on Jan. 18, 2010, proved enough to send both nations to the tournament's knockout stages. The nations also met in the second round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The nations opened their phases on June 5, 2004, with a goalless draw in Annaba, Algeria, and would meet again exactly one year later in Luanda. Goals from Flavio and Akwa helped give Angola its first (and to date) victory against Algeria, and the 2-1 result proved crucial for Angola to qualify for its first World Cup. Algeria and Angola also met in qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, for which Algeria qualified for the respective tournaments.

Algeria asserted domination and in the 18th minute, Baghdad Bounedjah produced a scissor volley to give Algeria the lead. However, poor finishing and wasted opportunities saw Algeria bitterly pay the price when a foul from Nabil Bentaleb to Mabululu saw the Angolan talisman convert the spot perfectly to seal the match to a draw.

Burkina Faso and Mauritania met for the 10th time, and the first at an Africa Cup of Nations. The nations had also met in qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Burkina Faso defeated Mauritania in a first-round qualifying phase for the 1998 World Cup, with the 2-0 victory on June 16, 1996, being Burkina Faso's only victory in that World Cup qualifying campaign. The nations also met in a preliminary round for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, with Burkina Faso winning 3-0 on aggregate and jumpstarting its successful qualification for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. Mauritania's first victory against Burkina Faso came on Sept. 8, 2018, during qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, with a 2-0 result in Nouakchott, Mauritania. When the nations met in the group stage finale on Mar. 22, 2019, Mauritania was assured of its first Africa Cup of Nations. However, Burkina Faso, eliminated from contention, ended the campaign with a 1-0 victory.

The match began with a fiery tempo when Burkina Faso and Mauritania fought for control of the ball. Still, it was the Mauritanians who came closest at scoring when Aboubakary Koita tested Hervé Koffi with a thunderous shot. Mauritania continued to test the Burkinabé but, after ongoing wasted opportunities, Mauritania was forced to pay a brutal price when Issa Kaboré was fouled by Nouh Mohamed El Abd, before Bertrand Traoré clinically converted the penalty to secure Burkina Faso's victory.

Algeria and Burkina Faso met for the 18th time, and the first at the Africa Cup of Nations since 1998 when goals from Kassoum Ouedraogo (via penalty) and Seydou Traore gave Burkina Faso, the tournament hosts, its first-ever victory at the Africa Cup of Nations, a 2-1 victory that helped spearhead the nation's fourth-place finish in 1998. Both nations had also met at the group stage finale of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, with Algeria winning 2-1 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Both also met in qualifying for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, with Algeria and Burkina Faso both advancing to the tournament (Burkina Faso defeated Algeria in the teams' final qualifying match to secure the qualification on June 17, 2001). The nations also met in qualifying for both the 2014 and 2022 World Cups, the former for which Algeria qualified for the 2014 World Cup on the away goals rule. The nations also drew twice when they met during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification phase, with the latter being a 2-2 draw in Bilda, Algeria, that once again eliminated Burkina Faso from World Cup contention.

The match started at a high tempo with Algerian domination, but Burkina Faso's resilient defense allowed the team to stay afloat. As Algeria was overwhelmingly committing to frontal assaults, their reckless defense resulted in Abdoul Tapsoba seizing the deal with a deep cross before Mohamed Konaté flung it into the net at the third minute of extra time. With the restart of the game, Baghdad Bounedjah took advantage of a tricky free kick by Nabil Bentaleb in the 51st minute. However, an unnecessary foul by Rayan Aït-Nouri on Issa Kaboré resulted in a penalty, which Bertrand Traoré didn't miss it to make it two for Burkina Faso at the 71st minute. However, Burkina Faso squandered their lead at the fifth minute of injury time when Bounedjah won the air combat to head to the net as the game ended in a manic 2–2 draw.

This result meant Burkina Faso had scored in 16 AFCON matches, while Algeria remained winless in five AFCON matches.

Angola and Mauritania met for only the fifth since, and all matches have occurred since 2018. The first meetings took place in October 2018, with both nations meeting during qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. On Oct. 12, 2018, Mauritania took a shock lead in only two minutes with a goal from Moctar Sidi El Hacen, but Angola responded with four unanswered goals to win 4-1, with a brace from Mateus. Five days later, Adama Ba's goal was the only scoring when the teams met in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Both nations qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, with Mauritania doing so for the first time in the nation's history. Both nations would be drawn into Group E of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and the meeting on June 29, 2019, in Suez, Egypt, ended goalless, and ultimately, both nations exited the group stage of that tournament. The most recent meeting took place on Jan. 20, 2023, during the 2022 African Nations Championship, in Oran, Algeria, with the nations playing to another goalless draw (Mauritania advanced out of the group and into the quarterfinals).

The match started with a high tempo, and after surviving a failed Mauritanian onslaught, Angola capitalized with Gelson Dala producing a scissor finish to get Angola ahead in the 30th minute. However, just before the injury time of the first half, Sidi Bouna Amar provided a brilliant solo over Angolan defenders before unleashing his powerful shot to give Mauritania's first-ever goal from an open play in AFCON to end the first half with an exhilarating draw. Within the final 45 minutes, Dala struck the second with a smart shot that saw Babacar Niasse fail to respond in the 50th minute. Gilberto then added to the table just three minutes later after intercepting the ball from Khadim Diaw before making a clinical finish. However, Aboubakary Koita would reduce the deficit five minutes later with a stunning long-range strike, but Angola held firm to win.

It was Angola's first win at the Africa Cup of Nations since Jan. 22, 2012, against Burkina Faso.

Angola and Burkina Faso met for the ninth time. In addition to meeting at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (which Angola won 2-1), the nations also met in qualification campaigns for 2002, 2015, and 2019 editions. Both nations split the meetings during qualifying for the 2002 edition (Burkina Faso winning 1-0 in Ouagadougou on Jan. 13, 2001, and Angola winning 2-0 in Luanda on Mar. 25, 2001) and Burkina Faso ultimately qualified for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. A similar scenario unfolded for the 2015 qualifiers, with Burkina Faso winning 3-0 on Sept. 10, 2014, and Jonathan Pitriopa scoring two of his six overall goals during the campaign in that match. Burkina Faso secured qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations before its group stage finale, which ended 1-1 against Angola in Ouagadougou, as Pitriopa scored on a penalty. For the 2019 qualifiers, both nations also split victories, with Burkina Faso winning on June 10, 2017, 3-1 and Angola winning 2-1 on Nov. 18, 2018. Ultimately, Angola advanced, and Burkina Faso did not. In addition, both nations also met during the 2018 African Nations Championship, with the teams playing to a goalless draw in Agadir, Morocco, on Jan. 16, 2018, to open Group D (Angola advanced out of the group).

In the 36th minute, from a free kick, Mabululu drew first blood with a direct header to give Angola the lead they wanted. Despite efforts by the Burkinabés to find the back of the net, they were punished at the second minute of extra time in the second half, when from a chaotic defence in Burkina Faso's side, Jérémie Bela's thunderous shot was deflected by Hervé Koffi before Zini capitalised from the opportunity to seal Angola the win.

It was the first time ever Angola had ever topped the group of an AFCON.

Algeria and Mauritania met for only the seventh time, with the first meeting coming during a two-leg first-round meeting in qualifying for the 1986 Africa Cup of Nations, which Algeria won 5-1 on aggregate as they eventually qualified for the tournament. The nations also met in friendlies in 2017 and 2021, with the former being a 3-1 Algeria victory in what was the nation's final match before the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

After Algerian attempts to find the back of the net early on failed to materialize, Mauritania surprised Algeria in the 37th minute when from a corner kick, Omaré Gassama's blocked shot came to Mohamed Dellahi Yali, whose shot proved too difficult for Anthony Mandrea to deny as it hit the post before delivered home. Despite rampant Algerian pressure later on, Mauritania held firm to create history.^[8]

This result meant Algeria failed to win in six Africa Cup of Nations matches. In contrast, Mauritania made history by winning a match at the Africa Cup of Nations and advancing past the group stages, both for the first time.

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:

Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.

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