The motherland leads: African coaches eye historic AFCON record

History Beckons. A continent is about to rewrite the script.

Never since its inception in 1957 has the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title been won by an African coach for four successive editions. There’s a 50% chance of that changing at the current tournament in Morocco.

Of the 24 nations contesting the 35th edition of the biennial continental showpiece, half are coached by their natives. Even better, two of the other half not in charge of their own countries are also Africans – South Africa’s Morena Ramoreboli coaching Botswana, and Nigeria’s Super Eagles led by Eric Chelle of the Ivory Coast. That means there’s actually a 14 in 24 chance of the title being won by a coach from the motherland.

This is positive news for a continent still reeling from CAF president Patrice Motsepe’s recent announcement that AFCON will no longer be played every two years, but instead will become a quadrennial event like the European Championship. Many argue that this change is dictated by UEFA, even though African talent is vital to European club success.

For years, African countries have imported coaching expertise, relying on European coaches to achieve success. But the work of legends such as Egypt’s Hassan Shehata, who led the Pharaohs to three successive AFCON titles from 2006 to 2010, proved Africa is capable. Before Shehata, Ghana’s Charles Gyamfi had already shown the way with three titles, winning in 1963 and 1965, then returning 17 years later to claim victory again – true legends of the game.

This tournament now provides another opportunity for Africa to demonstrate its coaching strength. Of the previous 34 editions, 17 have been won by African coaches and 17 by foreigners. The previous three tournaments were all won by nations led by native coaches, giving hope that the continent could achieve four successive titles for the first time.

Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi (2019), Senegal’s Aliou Cissé (2022), and Emerse Fae of the Ivory Coast (2023) claimed the last three titles.

For the current tournament, hosts Morocco and Senegal are hot favourites. Morocco set a new record with 18 successive wins in world football, while Senegal remained unbeaten for 24 matches. Morocco entrusts its campaign to long-serving Walid Regragui, who guided them to the FIFA World Cup semifinals in Qatar three years ago, and Senegal looks to Pape Thiaw to deliver their second continental title.

Other potential African winners include Fae with the Ivorian Elephants, Cameroon under David Pagou, and Tunisia led by Sami Trabelsi. Meanwhile, Chelle and Nigeria hope to bounce back from failing to qualify for the World Cup, and Egypt aims to end a 15-year drought under former striker Hossam Hassan, who won AFCON as a player in 1998.

On the other hand, the only countries capable of winning the tournament under non-African coaches are South Africa (Belgian Hugo Broos) and Algeria (Bosnian-Swiss Vladimir Petkovic).

All signs point to history being made: four successive AFCON victories for African coaches, and a chance for the host continent to claim the lead in the overall count of wins against non-African tacticians.