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Ahmed Musa (left) celebrates Odion Ighalo, double scorer and decisive passer with Nigeria against Cameroon. Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

The 2019 African Cup of Nations ended with Algeria's victory against Senegal on 19 July (1-0) and a new scoring record. For the first time in 62 years, players entered Egypt scored 102 goals. A record to relativize however. The average goals / match has rarely been so low.

Finally, Algeria reigns again on Africa. Twenty-nine years after winning against Nigeria, the Téranga Lions have regained control of the African Cup of Nations. In the final of this CAN 2019 , against Senegal, men Djamel Belmadi won (1-0) in Cairo.

The closing of this 32nd CAN is an opportunity to do the accounts. And that's it: the record of goals scored fell in Egypt. Between the only goal of Egyptian Trezeguet against Zimbabwe (1-0) in the first game on June 21 and the last goal scored by Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah against Senegal in the final, the nets have often trembled. A total of 102 goals were scored during the 2019 African Cup of Nations .

Baghdad Bounedjah opened the scoring for Algeria against Senegal in the CAN 2019 final on 19 July 2019. Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Mahrez for the 100th

This is the first time that the symbolic bar of 100 goals has been crossed. This total was reached during the semi-finals. And what a goal! In the face-to-face match between the Algerian Fennecs and the Nigerian Super Eagles (2-1), Odion Ighalo, the best director of the tournament, scored the 99th, equaling the previous record of CAN 2008 (see below) and Equalizing at the same time. And the 100th goal was scored in the final seconds by Riyad Mahrez, a free kick into the legend of Algerian football.

The 101st was scored, once again, by Ighalo in the small final won by Nigeria against Tunisia (1-0). The 102nd and last, finally, is to put to the credit of Baghdad Bounedjah after 1'20 of play during the final won by the Desert Warriors against the Lions of Teranga.

The joy of the Algerians after the goal of victory against Nigeria, signed Riyad Mahrez. Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

An average of goals however low

There is a world of difference between the time of the very first goal in the history of the competition and the last of Bounedjah. In 1957, the first CAN, held in Khartoum, Sudan, had only three teams: Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. The fourth, South Africa, was disqualified because of apartheid. The Ethiopia-South Africa semifinal was canceled and there were only two matches: the other half Sudan-Egypt (1-2), then the final Egypt-Ethiopia (4-0). Two games during which were still scored 7 goals.

This CAN 2019, it was the first to attract a total of 24 teams, against 16 usually. 52 matches were played in the country of the Pharaohs this year, against 32 matches for previous CAN. Logical consequence: with more games played, the goal record was much more likely to fall. That's what happened.

On closer inspection, this CAN 2019 has not been so prolific. Of course, 102 goals were scored in 52 games. But the average is only 1.96 goals / match. For comparison, the CAN 2008 in Ghana was much more spectacular: in 32 games, 99 goals were scored (only 3 less than in 2019). The average goal on this CAN 2008 was significantly higher: 3.09 goals / match.

This is the first time in a long time that the goals average is less than 2 goals / match. It is necessary to go back to the CAN 2002 to find trace of a lower average of goals. At the time, it amounted to only 1.5 goals / match.

Edition of the CAN Number of goals scored - Number of matches Average goals / match
CAN 2002 48 goals - 32 matches 1.5
CAN 2004 88 goals - 32 matches 2.75
CAN 2006 73 goals - 32 matches 2.28
CAN 2008 99 goals - 32 matches 3.09
CAN 2010 71 goals - 29 matches (3 Togo matches canceled) 2.45
CAN 2012 76 goals - 32 matches 2.38
CAN 2013 69 goals - 32 matches 2.16
CAN 2015 68 goals - 32 matches 2.13
CAN 2017 66 goals - 32 matches 2.06
CAN 2019 102 goals - 52 matches 1.96

Ighalo as Gedo, Eto'o and Bartlett, but still far from Mutumbula

The top scorer of CAN 2019 is Odion Ighalo. The Nigerian, 30, played his first CAN. And he made a very good impression by scoring 5 goals. Without an injury in the small final won against Tunisia (1-0), he might have even been able to improve his personal total.

With his five goals, he is ahead of Algeria's Riyad Mahrez and Adam Ounas, Congolese Cédric Bakambu and Senegal's Sadio Mané, with three goals each. A top scorer with 5 goals, it had not happened since the Egyptian Mohamed Gedo in 2010. The Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o had also reached this total twice (2006 and 2008), and the South African Shaun Bartlett had been crowned scorer of the CAN 2000 with 5 goals as well.

Nigerian odion Ighalo scored his fifth goal in the competition against Tunisia. RFI / Pierre René-Worms

It is necessary to go back to the CAN 1998 to find a more prolific scorer on a single edition. There were two of them that year: the Egyptian Hossam Hassan and the South African Benedict McCarthy. The absolute record remains untouchable: at the CAN 1974, the Congolese Pierre Ndaye Mulamba, better known under the name of Mutumbula, had scored 9 times with the team of Zaire. Deceased in early 2019 at the age of 70, the former striker was honored during this CAN in Egypt. Several tributes and minutes of silence were given to him throughout the competition.