5 rivalries that define the African Cup of Nations
A continental tournament quite unlike any other, the African Cup of Nations has had its fair share of rivalries forged by history, geographic proximity, the quest for footballing power and much more. These have only served to add an edge to the competition on the pitch and elevated the levels of joy & disappointment of the fans. We take a look at some of the definitive rivalries in the AFCON.
#5 Ivory Coast vs. Senegal
Even though these two West African nations have only faced off four times in the 60-year history of the Cup of Nations – first in 1965 and most recently in 2012 – the multiple friendlies and World Cup qualifiers in between led to a healthy rivalry between the fans.
The storyline was mostly built on expectations for Ivory Coast to maintain their dominance as a footballing powerhouse, with Senegal making breakthroughs as and when they could. None of those would be in the Cup of Nations though with Les Elephants winning all four clashes, and in fact only losing one competitive game to Senegal although they did lose six international friendlies.