How many Africa Cup of Nations titles have Salah, Mané and Mahrez won?
As the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 is concluded in Cameroon, we take a look at how the three Premier League stars have performed in the tournament.
The Africa Cup of Nations 2022 was made up of 24 teams, split into six groups of four. The tournament got underway on 9 January, with hosts Cameroon kicking things off against Burkina Faso. Reigning champions Algeria were seen as one of the teams to beat in this year’s competition but it was Senegal who would take their crown.
With Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez starring they also had bags of talent elsewhere in the side, with AC Milan’s Ismael Bennacer, West Ham’s Said Benrahma and the experienced trio of Islam Slimani, Sofiane Feghouli and Yacine Brahimi. As it turned out though, they wouldn't be with us for long, but two other Premier League high-flyers would push each other all the way.
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Mahrez's AFCON record
Pep Guardiola and City had to do without their tricky forward for a couple of weeks as he taregted another African title. Mahrez won the trophy in 2019 when Bennacer was named as the Player of the Tournament, although there is little doubt that Mahrez is the country's star player.
The title win in 2019 was Algeria's second ever and first since 1990.
Egypt and Mo Salah
The Pharaohs have won the tournament seven times and are the most successful team in the history of AFCON. In attack, they have arguably the best player in the world right now, Mohamed Salah. Led by former Manchester United coach, the experienced Carlos Queiroz, they proved to be well organised, although rather dull to watch, but somehow made it to the final, with plenty of extra-time and penalty shootouts along the way.
Egypt haven't won the tournament since 2010. The Liverpool winger didn't make his debut for the Egypt national football team until September 2011 and was therefore looking for his first silverware with his home nation. It wasn't to be.
Sadio Mané and Senegal
Senegal had never won an Africa Cup of Nations tournament until February 2022 when their dreams were fulfilled. With Édouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, they were solid at the back. Sadio Mané was their main man going forward and despite missing an early penalty in the final it was the Liverpool player who scored the winning spot kick at the very end. Mané accounts for more than 60 per cent of all the goals in Senegal’s squad.
Senegal have now played in the tournament on 17 occasions and have finally gone all the way to lifting the trophy.