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With twists and turns, the 34th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) provided entertainment and shocking results during the group stage.

With the focus now on the Round of 16, fans are expecting more entertainment given how the first knockout stage has been mapped out.

In the group stage, giants like Ghana and Algeria, all former champions, were eliminated from the preliminary stage, while Ivory Coast and Cameroon struggled but miraculously managed to progress to the knockout stage.

As the focus now shifts to the next stage, it is important to look at the surprising stats that emerged from the group stage.

This is the first time that Mauritania booked a place in the Round of 16, and their win against Algeria was their first-ever win in eight AFCON matches.

For the first time, the Teranga Lions, who won all their group stage matches, have three out of three in the group stage of the competition. The defending champions scored eight goals and conceded only one.

For Algeria, it is the second straight time that they have been knocked out of AFCON in the group stage and gone home without a victory. In the previous edition held in Cameroon, they only had one point, and this time around, they were eliminated with just two points to their name.

Three goals were scored from penalties between Mozambique (1) and Ghana (2), the highest total in a single AFCON match, according to CAFOnline.

Nsue masterstroke

Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue, who finished the group stage with five goals, is the second player to achieve such a performance at this stage of the competition since the Ivory Coast’s Laurent Pokou; seven goals in 1970.

Nigeria have reached the knockout stage in each of their last 15 appearances in the competition. This is the longest in the history of the tournament.

Following a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast suffered their biggest defeat. The Elephants, looking for their third AFCON title, had never lost an AFCON match by a margin of four goals before.

Following poor results, five coaches were sacked: Tom Saintfiet (Gambia), Chris Hughton (Ghana), Jalel Kadri (Tunisia), Djamel Belmadi (Algeria), and Jean-Louis Gasset (Ivory Coast). All left their positions.

Three matches finished with 0-0 scorelines in the final round of group matches. The goalless draws came from Namibia vs Mali, Tanzania vs DR Congo, and Tunisia vs South Africa matches.