AFCON 2021: 5 things we learnt from Day 10 as Ghana got eliminated, Senegal, Gabon qualify

The final round of matches in Groups B and C of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) saw the likes of Senegal, Guinea, Morocco and Gabon secure their spots in the knockout stages of the competition.

But with the impressive displays of Malawi, Zimbabwe and Comoros, and the surprise elimination of tournament heavyweights Ghana, what lessons can we draw from day 10 of the competition?

Having drawn two of their three Group B games, Senegal's play might only be a strategy. The tournament favourites had almost no one to challenge their defence as they failed to concede a goal in all three of the group games, scoring once in the process.

They might be unimpressive in the attack, but their defensive strength could be what sees them through in the competition. Should their backline continue to remain unchallenged by opponents in the knockout stages, Senegal could go all the way to the finals, probably, scoring the least goals in the process.

After losing 1-0 to Guinea in their first Group B encounter, Malawi went on to provide the kind of football they will be proud of. The 129th-ranked team in the world came back from a goal down to defeat Zimbabwe, and then held group heavyweights Senegal to a draw in their final encounter.

With their four points from three group games, the Flames have shown that for the first time in their three AFCON attempts, they deserve qualification from the Group Stage. Should other groups' results go their way, they could finish as one of the four best losers.

Zimbabwe produced their best display of the tournament and pulled off an upset with a 2-1 win over Guinea in the final round of Group B fixtures. The loss didn’t prevent Zimbabwe from finishing in last place though, or Guinea from advancing into the AFCON Round of 16.

The wake-up call was, however, a little too late. Had Zimbabwe held on for victory in their 2-1 defeat to Malawi in their second group game, they would have had a befitting reward for stunning Guinea on the final day.

Morocco and Gabon went into their final Group C game knowing that all they both needed to finish as the group's representatives in the knockout stage was a draw.

But they both refused to settle for that, as Gabon knew should they lose and Ghana defeats Comoros, they would be forced to settle for third place. Morocco, on their part, were in danger of losing top spot in Group C had they lost to Gabon.

At the end of the day, the draw was what we got.

Ghana's poor run at the AFCON could easily be summarised thus: they were not ready for this competition. 

They were one of the few sides to play a pre-tournament friendly and showed their tactical ineptitude in the game - a 3-0 defeat against defending champions Algeria.

However, rather than fix it and approach their games differently, they went into them unchanged. Their lack of learning from their mistakes would cost them eventually as they lost to Morocco, drew with Gabon, and fell to a shock defeat against Comoros.