Since the Africa Cup of Nations AFCON expanded from 16 to 24 teams in 2019, the tournament's group stages have consistently delivered more goals, excitement, and attacking football.
Softfootball gathered, the expansion allowed more nations to participate, increasing match variety and giving emerging teams the confidence to play more offensively rather than defensively. As a result, goal numbers have steadily risen across editions.
In the 2019 AFCON hosted by Egypt, the first with 24 teams, 68 goals were scored during the group stage. Algeria went on to win the tournament, while Senegal finished as runners-up, with Odion Ighalo emerging as top scorer.
