2023 AFCON set to be the most ‘competitive’ in the tournament's history, says Dean Furman

The showpiece event, set to begin on Sunday, January 13th with hosts Ivory Coast taking on Guinea Bissau, will see 24 nations compete to become the new champions of Africa.

There were plenty of shocks in the 2021 edition of the tournament with the likes of Equatorial Guinea ending the 35-game unbeaten run of reigning champions Algeria while debutants Comoros secured their first-ever AFCON victory against Ghana, helping to send the four-time winners home at the group stage.

Furman believes the gap between the smaller nations and the traditional powerhouses on the continent is starting to reduce and therefore expects this year’s month-long tournament to throw up plenty more big surprises. 

“We’ve seen in recent tournaments that the lesser-ranked nations are starting to cause a few more problems,” explained Furman in an exclusive interview with Flashscore. 

“In the past, such sides have been swept aside. But what we have seen recently is competition getting stronger and games in the early stages being more competitive. 

“In 2021, Algeria came into the tournament as champions but then didn’t even make it out of the group. They drew 0-0 with Sierra Leone in their opener before losing to Equatorial Guinea - both games they were expected to win. 

“Obviously, you’d still expect one of the traditional big names to go and lift the trophy, but the small nations are causing more issues so don’t be surprised to see a few shock results in the coming weeks.”

The unpredictable nature of the tournament is highlighted by the fact there have been seven different AFCON winners across the last seven editions, and Furman added: “There are so many great sides in the competition. A lot of players taking part are competing every week in the best leagues across Europe. 

“I think Nigeria could be a threat. They’ve taken some criticism after drawing their opening two World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, but they have so many top players and I expect them to come into the tournament firing on all cylinders. 

“Senegal, they’re the reigning champions also with top players. They are always strong, as are Ghana and a few others. 

“But I think that Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) being the home nation can play a major part for them. They don’t have the easiest group with Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau, but if they get through that then I think they have a good chance.”

Furman - who won 56 senior caps during his esteemed international career - knows all about the power of home support at a major tournament having been part of the South Africa squad at the 2013 AFCON tournament held in his home nation. 

Reflecting on the influence that can have, the former midfielder explained: “In my opinion, playing for your country is the highest honour in football, but there’s something different about playing at a major tournament. 

“I was lucky enough to play in three, and you really feel the enormity of it; the press scrutiny is massive and the build-up is amazing. It’s such a different feel to games like qualifiers or friendly matches.  

“The first AFCON I played in was a home tournament. Every game was electric with 60,000 fans at each match - you really feel that out on the pitch.” 

That year was just the second time the tournament had been hosted in South Africa, and the first since 1996 when the Bafana Bafana were crowned the champions of Africa for the first and only time in their history. 

South Africa won their group and went on to reach the quarter-final before being eliminated by Mali following a penalty shoot-out - Furman was one of two players to miss a crucial spot-kick.

“I wasn’t involved in the World Cup squad in 2010, which I was gutted about,” he revealed.

“But then three years later we held AFCON and I had that feeling of being the host nation at a tournament - It was special.

“I didn’t play in our first game but I played the second group game and got Man of the Match. I was relatively new to the national team, so to get Man of the Match in an AFCON game, I thought: ‘Wow, this is unreal’. 

“Unfortunately, we got to the quarter-final and I missed a penalty. I went from such a high to such a low, but that is tournament football. 

“At the second AFCON I went to, I was our captain. That was so special for me. Then in the final one, we knocked Egypt out in front of 70,000 home fans. 

“Beating one of the favourites for the tournament, boasting players like (Mohamed) Salah in their ranks was pretty special. I remember so much from that game - these fixtures stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Furman’s last AFCON appearance came in 2019 when South Africa were beaten again at the quarter-final stage 2-1 by Nigeria. The Bafana Bafana have not gone beyond the last eight since 2000, but Furman has high hopes that this year’s group - led by Hugo Broos who won the 2017 AFCON as Cameroon manager - can go one better this time around.

“We’re in a tough group,” he acknowledged. “Namibia has a lot of players who play in the South African league, so they’ll be familiar. Mali are always strong, as are Tunsia - both of those two will be heavily backed to progress. 

“But despite that, the minimum expectation at home will be for South Africa to get out of that group. I know it is tough, but the team need to at the very least get out of the group, make the top two or try and sneak one of the best third-place finishes.  

“On our day, I think we have the talent to beat anyone. And once you are in the knockout phase, it all changes. There’s a lot of talent in the team and in the latter stages, the pressure will be on the favourites, meaning our lads can go and express themselves. 

“I’d like to see them go further than I ever did, bypass that quarter-final stage and maybe reach a semi-final. From there, who knows, anything can happen.”