Nearing the end of the African Cup of Nations, we take a look at the six biggest surprises from the tournament:
Madagascar's Historic Display
Usually, when a national team participates in a major international tournament for the very first time, just being there, in and amongst the action, is an achievement in itself.
For Madagascar, though, being at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time was nothing more than the bare minimum.
Despite being their first ever appearance at the AFCON, they made their presence felt throughout the African continent as they managed to reach the Quarter-Finals of the competition before bowing out to Tunisia.
Madagascar went unbeaten in the tournament's group stage, securing a historic 2-0 win over semi-finalists, Nigeria in the process.
After the win over the Super Eagles, Madagascar became less of an underdog and more of a dark horse as they showed immense resilience, passion and skill against one of the best teams on the continent.
Following their historic display, In addition to receiving a hero's welcome back home, Madagascar's National Team players have been awarded with the rank of knight of the Malagasy National Order.
Egypt's Elimination
Egypt came into the African Cup of Nations with high hopes and expectations, considering they're the most successful team in the history of the competition having lifted the AFCON trophy on seven occasions.
With this year's edition being held in Egypt, the Pharaohs looked set to reach the latter stages of the competition and quite possibly go all the way to win their 8th AFCON title especially with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Mahmoud Hassan coming off the back of great seasons with their respective clubs.
That was not to be the case, though, as Egypt succumbed to a shocking 1-0 defeat against South Africa at the Cairo International Stadium as Thembikosi Lorch scored the winner to send Bafana-Bafana to the Quarter-Finals of the competition, leaving the Egyptian national team's supporters in tears.
Egypt went into the round of 16 in good form having won all three of their group stage ties with clean sheets which made their defeat to South Africa such a shock as Bafana-Bafana managed to win just one of their group stage matches.
Ghana's Elimination
Going into the African Cup of Nations, Ghana were tipped to be one of the competition's potential winners considering the strength of their squad and their illustrious history playing in the tournament.
Ghana have enjoyed great success in the AFCON having won the competition on four occasions, but for the first time since 2006, they were knocked out of the AFCON by a Tunisia side who were deemed underdogs going into their game against the Black Stars.
Ghana had a rocky start to the competition as they managed to win only one of their group stage games against Guinea-Bissau having drawn the other two against Benin and Cameroon.
Despite their difficult start, they were poised to defeat Tunisia and move past the Round of 16, but after a tightly contested penalty shootout, Tunisia came out on top.
Ghana may have been guilty of underestimating Tunisia as they didn't look prepared going into the tie, in fact, had it not been for Rami Bedoui's own goal in stoppage time Tunisia would've secured their Quarter-Final spot in regular time.
Nicolas Pepe's Underwhelming Display
After leading Lille to a second-place finish in the 2019/2020 Ligue 1 season, much was expected from Nicolas Pepe going into the African Cup of Nations.
With the likes of PSG and Liverpool rumored to be interested in his services, the AFCON was poised to be another opportunity for Pepe to show the world what he's capable of.
The 24-year-old was expected to replicate his Ligue 1 form for Ivory Coast in the AFCON, but he failed to do as he was unable to find the back of the net or register an assist for the entirety of the competition.
Ivory Coast had a decent run in the tournament as they made it to the Quarter-Finals before being knocked out of the competition by finalists, Algeria – Pepe's involvement in their progression to the Quarter-Final was miniscule, though – far from what was expected of him going into the tournament.
Senegal's Appearance in the Final
Senegal were expected to put up a decent showing in the African Cup of Nations, but few expected the Lions of Teranga to make it to the final of the competition for a repeat of their Group stage tie against Algeria.
Senegal's road to the final was a tough one as they pretty much scraped wins in all throughout the knockout rounds as their victories in the Round of 16, Quarter-Final and Semi-Final were all 1-0 wins against Uganda, Benin and Tunisia.
Senegal boss, Aliou Cisse has won over the hearts of the nation having led his side to their first AFCON final in 17 years.
Senegal's resilience and ability to dig deep when they needed to the most helped them in their road to the final as much as Cisse's tactical acume, as the ex-Senegal international made his team hard to break down and often looked to exploit his opponent's weaknesses on the pitch.
John Obi Mikel's bit-part Role in Nigeria's Squad
Despite having been a mainstay in the Nigerian National Team for over a decade, Chelsea icon, Mikel Obi barely featured in the 2019 African Cup of Nations tournament, as he was restricted to supporting his teammates from the bench.
Mikel made just two appearances for Nigeria throughout the entire tournament despite still being one of the country's best players.
The Super Eagles evidently missed his composure in the middle of the park against Algeria as they gave the ball away on quite a few occasions and struggled to create chances from deep, something Mikel does quite well.
Whilst Nigeria did quite well in the AFCON, reaching the Semi-Final of the competition and winning the 3rd-place tie against Tunisia, the Super Eagles could have arguably made it to the finals if Mikel featured more frequently in the side.
