As an African, I’m very proud of the openning monologue

Since you are discussing African football, could you consider making a video about the presence of private football academies in Africa, the impact they have, and can have, on youth development, and the potential negatives? In addition to the benefits to clubs like Metz, with Generation Foot, and Nordsjaelland with Right to Dream.

Also another Afcon story that isn’t spoken about is how Zambia won their one and only Afcon trophy in Gabon in 2012, the country where the tragedy of the plane crash involving the Zambian national team took place. It was a truly inspiring underdog story and a great tribute to the team that had perished there.

Alfie, you are one of the few true football journalists left. Actually, one of the best

African football is always a fascinating story. The AFCON is largely unpredictable and troublesome, yet at the same time only a few could triumph. I have an honour to watch the AFCON back in 2019 and 2021 on TV and I was pretty impressed with the unpredictability. Unlike the also ongoing AFC Asian Cup, Copa America, Euros or CONCACAF Gold Cup, the lack of a clear definition of a truly strong team is so relevant in Africa, where teams can always surprise. Sadly, Africa's huge talent pool being so badly managed might have contributed to the stereotype of African corruption.

On the rare occasions when we have had coverage in the UK of the African Nations it has been some of the most entertaining and exciting I have ever seen.

Thank you for making this video. Growing up in Zimbabwe, AFCON was every bit the staple that the world cup was in my house. Having left and grown even fonder of football, particularly European competitions, it's been easy to not recognize how little it's valued anywhere else and the extent to which I'd started to undervalue it too as a result. Football is as exciting and as colorful in Africa as it anywhere else if not more so. If you get the chance to, WATCH THE AFCON!!

One thing I love about the Afcon is that there is no such thing as an underdog, a team full of stars who play in Europe can easily be beaten by a smaller nation, i.e. Cape Verde just beat Ghana in their opening match, and Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria struggled to win their games as well. As an African I thank you for this video 🙏🏾

Absolutely love AFCON, been watching it since 2004. There was a real golden age from 2006-2015 when West Africa especially was just churning out world class stars, and it's been interesting to see North African sides come to the fore in more recent years. Particularly love how the biggest sides change with every passing generation. The idea that Morocco and Senegal would be the two biggest teams on the continent would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

This better not be a video complaining about it being mid-season 😂 Edit: Okay thankfully it’s not and is instead the complete opposite with Alfie praising the tournament. I love this guy

I've been watching the competition for years. It always looks so good. Obviously there are a lot of English based players in it & watching them for those countries whilst they're not at their clubs is decent.

As an Australian, I remember Graeme Poll’s farcical refereeing that attempted to boot Australia out of the World Cup.

Let's be honest: If one ranked the six major continental competitions, AFCON would rank #3 on most people's lists behind the Euros and Copa (for me, it would be: Euros Copa AFCON Asian Cup CONCACAF Gold Cup OFC Nations Cup).

THANK YOU! I've been watching the AFCON regularly for the last 10 years or so, but I've always had to explain myself as to why - people just don't realise how brilliant this tournament is, mainly because of said perceptions of African football as a whole. This tournament seems to be every bit as worthy of watching as the previous ones (just look at Cabo Verde beating Ghana yesterday), so I highly recommend it again.

AFCON is probably the most entertaining international tournament outside of the World Cup. It's 100% vibes 100% of the time

Awesome video!!! As a Nigerian American it is great to see someone go in depth about the tourney and why it’s unfortunately overlooked.

We should do a big international break in January to help african nations to do their cup. While they do their continental cup, we in Europe could do some euro/world cup qualifying match, some nations league match, or whatever. I never understood why we never did it.

Great video, Alfie! I love AFCON as a Dutchie, even more so since I've visited some African countries. Small correction, though: 'Lesotho' is actually pronounced 'Le-zoo-too'. I learned that the hard way lol.

I get the VVD point, but it only stands for the Premier League. If De Ligt makes a blunder in the Bundesliga or Tomori in Serie A, people will generally bash those leagues for being subpar 'farmers leagues'. So, AFCON aren't the only ones who get bashed for personal mistakes. It's more like the competition being scrutinised is the rule, and in the PL the player gets scrutinised which is the exception

Such a powerful video. Thank you for making this Alfie. I appreciate you for shedding light on this topic and so many other topics as you do in all of your other videos. When starting my own channel, I realised that you are one of the people I definitely want to take inspiration from. Thanks for the great content man, keep it up!

Back in school, we used to watch this competition in winter when Eurosport broadcasted the afcon in the beginning and middle of 00's. We used to pick a nation and support as if it was our team. Sometimes we watch players from lower leagues from my country (2nd, 3rd, local leagues) playing in this competition, in a time where there wasn't tv broadcast for lower leagues and few of us had internet. All i have, and many from my generation have, is a soft spot for this competition.

I have been talking about the afcon and defending it since the 2000's watching it on eurosport when the quality of everything was far lower than now and to see it grow has been an amazing journey. The mockery and sheer vulgarity of demands of players not to represent their countries pains me everytime its an honour to represent your country and should always be respected

AFCON is played in the second largest continent and the second most populated continent... I think as Africans, our take on our own tornament is the only thing we should focus on...

How Roberto Lopes, born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Cape Verdean father, came to represent Cape Verde is beyond belief. He got LinkedIn message in Portuguese from the Cape Verde head coach that he dismissed as spam. It was only when it was re sent in English that he realised he was being called up. Now for the second time he is putting the League of Ireland on the map in one of the biggest tournaments in football.

24:54 Just to reinforce your point here: from the 2019 edition onwards, CAF actually did try to move AFCON from January to June/July, specifically - at least in part - to avoid clashing with the European season. For both the 2021 and 2023 editions, however, they had to reschedule it back to January for exactly the reason you describe: it would have been way too hot in June to actually host them then.

The only thing I don’t like about the AFCON is that it’s every 2yrs & it severally effect clubs that have more African players….yes I know the Asian Cup is being played at the same time this year. But that’s every 4yrs

This channel… is so good. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this channel so many times and this puts it firmly on a pedestal for me. Bravo HITC Sevens 🔥🔥🔥

Being that football here in Denmark is on mid season break in January and February due to it being too cold and the fields can handle it. I love the fact we have 2 major tournaments happening right now with AFCON and Asian Cup. I also much prefer National Team Football over Club Football, but given how international football is talked about I sometimes feel alone with that statement even though it likely isnt the case.

African Cup Of Nations is one of my favourite ever tournaments of all time with all of the respective nations competing in it and its a fun tournament to watch despite some of the unwanted controversies which the African FA must rectify and solve positively,good friends!!!:-D

No Ghana in the list at 2:45? They are definitely one of Africa's best teams in WC history and always punch above their weight. They do the light=mental dark=physical in every sport here in America. It's not as prevalent but definitely still happens.

If I may make a slight correction, when it comes to the weather, Africa experiences a unique climate due to its vast landmass. In the northern regions, during the European summer, it becomes significantly hotter due to its proximity to the Sahara Desert. However, in much of the western, eastern, and central regions, the monsoon season prevails, making it nearly impossible to play football as heavy rains persist for approximately four months, spanning from June to September. Therefore, all these factors must be taken into consideration when hosting the AFCON. It's important to note that we won't limit hosting privileges to countries with weather similar to Europe's, as every African nation aspires to host this prestigious competition.

The only thing I don't understand about AFCON is why is it being held every other year. I think that having continental competitions every 4 years should become the standard.

Thank you so much for this, this was much needed. Many of my friends from this great continent really cherish and love the AFCON and it means a lot to them. Please make a video about the Asia Cup.

I’ve been watching this channel without subscribing. Thank you for covering the AFCON so well with no bias. I’m finally subscribing ✨🙌🏽

It always annoys me how those in other parts of the world see our tournaments as hurdles and hindrances to their competitions. AFCON is genuinely one of the most exciting festivals of football and its always a time of the year we here in Africa look forward to. There's no competition that comes with as much unpredictably as AFCON does and that's in every respect. Weather, pitch state, referees, minnows upsetting established powers....These are what make AFCON so unique and entertaining. 95% of the people berating the tournament have never even watched a match. Give it a chance.... It wont disappoint. Lets go BAFANA BAFANA

Imagine when/if an African team wins the World Cup. It's gonna be nuts in that Country. Wonder if it'll happen in my lifetime.

I like that AFCON is very unpredictable and everyone can suprise which is also interesting when you consider the fact that around 10 different countries from Africa usually qualify for World cup but countries that never qualified for World cup won AFCON

I watched a few of the games in this Afcon already and have done so before and i agree its a competition worth noting and looking at for sure. Well done to point out the qualities of the tournament and its glory as it should be considered.

I always enjoy watching AFCON in the UK, this year the games are 2pm, 5pm and 8pm. So when i’ve been off work i’ve been watching all 3 games. So far Mozambique, Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea all causing some shocks. Always look out for EFL players too

Thank you so much for making an honest, nuanced & unbiased video about this competition. It.s wholly refreshing to see this in a KZfaq video. I love your videos, keep up with it!

Thank you for representing Africa and showing what it’s all about it’s not about Politics poverty or Corruption it’s about the beautiful game that doesn’t look at colour of your skin or which club you play for but it’s all about the pride of winning. I and so many of these stars and millions of Africans grew up playing football made from plastics in the streets without shoes because of the love of the game

I am proud to be Zambian and thank you for the Facts in this, Africa needs to be seen... the vast talents and skills we possess.... it is the only Tournament where the favourites only has a 12% Chance of winning the whole thing.... Massive competition 💪🏾💪🏾

Thank you so much for making this. I really appreciate that you shed light on the fantastic stories this tournament has produced. Its just disappointing how people will take meme pages as serious journalism.

Another great point well made. Your essay videos are A huge part of my routine at this point. You are a gift to football discourse

What segment. This was very thought provoking and profound. Shining the light on the stigma Africa forever faces in football and society at large was needed. Kudos to you (no pun intended)

Really enjoyed this video. Also, I'm glad that I'm finally able to easily watch AFCON here in the US. I've also been watching the Asian Cup. You're right, it's a great competition and hopefully European club schedules will start adding breaks for AFCON and Asian Cup.

Thanks for giving The Gambia a shout out mate! I went there two years ago during the 2021 AFCON to sponsor a team and watch the competition with the locals! They treated me so nice and we had such an incredible time. I have a video posted about it on my page, Bajana Always Ready. African people don't have much but that's what makes them so happy. All they have to celebrate is life. If you give them something materialistic, they will appreciate it more than your next door neighbor, because when you have nothing in life, you are grateful for everything!

People were saying that they hope egypt losses early so that they can have salah back to liverpool so that should put into perspective how little respect some people have for the AFCON

I felt so much joy watching this as an African. Thanks Alfie

This is another excellent video! AFCON is usually a good tournament. It's unpredictable, so much so that the best way to enjoy it is just to watch it. The supposed "minnows" that qualify for AFCON tends to be better than people believe. This leads to some massive upsets. To me, it's the third most interesting confederation tournament after the Euros and Copa.

Haven’t been as active on your channel as I usually am recently. Came back for this video & was not disappointed. Same old Alfie, same old excellent content & writing. Complex opinion(s) & a very good watch!

I'm so grateful you took the time to praise our competition. This edition is being the most special for me, because the underdogs are stepping up, every match is so unpredictable, new heroes are being raised! May God bless you.

European don't take us serious as Africans but we can't deny the quality of African players. AFCON is great tournament

Afcon is not played in West Africa during those months because of the rainy season. Pitches would not survive. From Guinea all the way to Angola, DRC, CAR. That whole belt of Africa its pouring.

I’m so glad I’ve found your channel. Excellent work.

Watching extended highlights for all matches for the first time this year and I have loved it so far!

Watching all the way from South Africa Alfie. Enjoying your content as usual.

I only watched 2 AFCON tournaments but I picked two of the best ever I'm pretty sure. I watched Zambia's crazy cinderella story a decade ago, and another that I don't remember the details of fully but it ended in an absolutely bonkers penalty shootout, like 20+

Great video, I am actually watching it in Yamassoukrou whilst attending my first AFCON live, after following the competition since around the 2012 edition. It's been great so far, we watched NIG-EQG, EGY-MZQ and GHA-CVD yesterday and SEN-GAM and CAM-GUI today (missed the opening game due to work and flight schedules). Atmosphere is awesome, people are very friendly and the organisation is functioning well (although food & drinks provision in the stadiums could be better). Best matches so far were the Egypt Mozambique one, since the stadium progressively started supporting the underdogs more and more and in the end the whole stadium was just chanting Mozambique! Mozambique! (Aside from the Egyptians o.c.) and the Guinea Cameroon today. The Guinean fans were on fire 🔥 Ivory Coast is also a pretty good country to start exploring sub-saharan Africa, since it is somewhat easy to explore and safe (although speaking at least basic French helps a lot).

I work at sea and I'm bummed I'm missing this edition. I've always enjoyed the AFCON, the atmosphere that surrounds it and always hated the discourse surrounding it in European media.

Video Suggestion: Seven most successful position changes of all time. So something like Bale going from LB to eventually RW. Cannot include position changes made in youth academy because many players shift positions early in their careers.

Awesome video. I'm glad to see more people talk positively about the tournament because it's always fascinating to watch the AFCON. The only negative (for me) as a Kenyan is that every time AFCON comes around, I'm reminded that East Africa is the worst part of the continent football wise. Hopefully Tanzania will perform well.

Thanks for making this video Alfie it has got me excited!!

Thanks for the shoutout, Alfie! Really enjoyed this video. Great and important work, as always. Thank you.

I'm algerian and I expected Alfie to dive in the controversies of Afcon, great to see I was wrong lol

every Bundesliga goal ever gets discredited with "Bundesliga defending" by Prem fans, so thats not exclusive to Africa or Woman

Thank you Alfie, for the introductory monologue. And for the video in general.

Thanks man! We need more people with a tollerant collourful worldview like you!

Great vide alfie....one of the very few channels that regularly challenges and deconstructs racist tropes and stereotypes in football...and does it in an entertaining way too

Day 6 of asking a "What went right for Stade Brestois?" There's not much alarming going on, but it is the best season, at minimum in the last 40 years when they had World Cup Winner José Luis Brown on the team, and it's unusual to see the historically small club doing very well. For the first time in their history, they can dream of European football. Plus hey, you can have a lot of Brest related puns. Also, good luck to Kamory Doumbia and Mali!

This is such a beautiful video Alfie ❤ really loved your narrative and ill be the first to admit ive fed the same bearish narrative about afcon. Ill be watching tournament now 😊

Very nice video man, good that you point this out! Never thought about it like that.

Many western viewers and UEFA looks down at AFCON because we Africans host our tournament in January instead of June. The main reason is the humidity and heat in Africa is far more brutal in June than in January. If Allison screws up, then he gets mocked and ridiculed for it. However, if Ofori(Ghanaian keeper plays his club football with Orlando Pirates in South Africa) screws up, then the entire keepers in Africa that plays in Africa gets mocked and ridiculed because of one keeper's howler. The ref that ended the game early twice suffered heat stroke that he became confused and disoriented and yet the west claims it's corruption. I watch AFCON because I'm African and I'm proud of our football. Hell, I'm also watching because my country South Africa are in it for the first time in years. I don't expect us to win it like we did in 1996 but I do expect a good running for once. AFCON is here to stay and we won't deviate from hosting the tournament in January because of the brutal climate in Africa.

Thank you Alfie for killing 2 birds with one stone on this great video.First you explained the importance and richness of AFCON tournament and how its always an open tournament with so many upsets and hidden gems emerging. Secondly you also landed an uppercut to the Reactionaries who always like to bash AFCON coz of their biases based on race an colonial hangover.Speaking of which Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp now has a track record of making disparaging remarks about AFCON each time the tournament is about to start.He is stuck in his ways,but the show will go on. I think by now you must have washed highlights of the Opening ceremony,it was such a beautiful event,very well organized and performers conducted themselves with such class,elegance and dignity. I predict that one day Hollywood or Nollywood will make a movie about the 1994 Zambian team that captured the hearts of an entire continent by punching way above their weight with a makeshift team after their entire team had died in a plane crash. That is such a powerful story that only a great movie can do it justice.

Never really dipped into it with regards to watching it, though i do keep up with the scores(I am the same with the Copa America too, to be fair) but you make a damn compelling point. Excellent video as ever Alfie!

Brilliant video, Alfie and co. Ill be sharing this link with all of my football loving friends ❤

Much love from South Africa 🇿🇦 ❤️

Watching from South Africa.🇿🇦 🙏🏽

Well done video, was slightly different from what I expected, I was hoping about a discussion on how afcon worked, but this was very informative, well reasoned, and well done.

Very well thought out and interesting video Alfie. I've looked at the options I have to watch football and the only way I can watch the AFCON is to pay for another service. I can't figure out why one of the platforms would just offer it. I'll check the price and take a punt.

Next, please make a video about Asian Cup. It also like AFCON which some of Asian player leaves their European team to play for their country. Like South Korea and Japan which have many player play in Europe.

11 minutes in couldn't have made me happier. I said out loud, "that's the same as women's football", and was then immediately met with you saying the same. Great video as always Alfie

Thank you for opening our eyes with this brilliant vid

i now have an idea what to watch for the next week - all the African Nations finals or semi final matches I can find ! Thanks Alfie

A lot of headlines for AFCON this year actually. So many in fact that people are sleeping on the AFCON equivalent of Asia that's happening concurrently. Personally I think AFCON is a better tournament since the numbers of talents and the sense of festivals are far greater, but saying AFCON get less or unfavorable coverages even from social media is quite a stretch. U can go to a number of football websites like the Athletic to confirm for yourself which tournaments get more headline coverages and just being promoted more generally. A lot of highlights of talented players from AFCON also get more views on social media too.

Every time I see Alfie fighting against racism and global anti-blackness, a proud tear rolls down my cheek 😊

What a great rant! Thank you! This is a video that a lot of people should watch (even if it hurts their ego - I'm looking at you, western pundits and media!) I've always regarded the CAN (or AFCON) to be an inspiration to young African kids and currently try to teach my kids about the many positive aspects of it. Enough with the stereotypes and negativity always surrounding the competition and us, African, in general. Great video!

Love your work Alfie. Marvelous job

I believed the Zaire free kick thing because it was on Nich Hancock's footballing nightmares...

Africa Cup of Nations, AFC Asian Cup, and even Copa America always get disrespected. I'm bummed.

Alfie as always dishing out the football news that should be on the actual news!

Excellent and beautiful video. Many thanks for this.

The colour vibrant is how I was bought up as a Mauritian hindu born in the UK ❤ That Jordan Henderson joke 😅😅😅😅

Pretty sure I’ve frequently heard commentators repeatedly praise the creative play and vision of Yaya Touré, Michael Essien, Mo Salah, Drogba..

Very interesting video, and at times very unsurprising why the misinformation happens. I think I'll go watch some of the matches. Cheers, Alfie!

Brilliant video. Really well reasoned and argued. Kudos

I’m so mad at myself for not having an interest in African football sooner. Can’t wait to see who lifts the trophy!

Great work! It should be said that the French football content creators talk A LOT about AFCON and their coverage is very even. Maybe due to more African players in Ligue 1? Different attitude towards colonialism?

Finally Alfie! You finally did a.video about AFCON! Cheers, mate!

Thank you for doing this video! Very important and necessary to shed a light on the false conceptions that people still hold over Africa.