Seven stars of the AFCON: Mane, Pepe, Hakimi...

A closer look at seven players who stood out during the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations won by Senegal.

Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time on Sunday with a penalty shootout win over Egypt - but it certainly wasn't just the two finalists whose players impressed over the course of the tournament.

Sadio Mane scored the winning penalty for Senegal, having earlier missed a spot-kick in normal time, to secure victory over his Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah, capping off a fine few weeks which saw him crowned Player of the Tournament.

Along with several other players, he'll be returning to his club on a high and in excellent form.

Sadio Mane - Senegal

Games - 7

Goals & Assists - 3 Goals, 2 Assists

Rating - 7.54

Senegal came out as eventual winners of the tournament. They were heavy favourites and for good reason; they had a very strong team that featured Liverpool talisman Mane at the front of it.

His three goals and two assists were imposing, and to make it better, only one of those goals came in the group stage. He saved his best for the later stages, most notably notching a goal and an assist in the Semi-Final to book Senegal’s place in the final.

He was also awarded man of the match four times in his seven games played. His impact on his team winning was enormous.

Nicolas Pepe - Ivory Coast

Games - 4

Goals & Assists - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

Rating - 7.97

Ivory Coast's AFCON didn’t last very long, as they were dumped out in the Round of 16 by Egypt on penalties. It was quite unfortunate for them as they were the first victim of Egypt’s dull tactic of dragging the game out to penalties and trying to win it there.

But four games was all Nicolas Pepe needed to make a big impact.

The Arsenal man only played two full 90 minutes, but that’s all he needed to ball out like the Pepe of old at Lille.

Two Man of the Match awards went his way as well. Surprisingly, though, one of them wasn’t in the game against Algeria when he bagged a goal and an assist in 85 minutes.

Vincent Aboubakar - Cameroon

Games - 7

Goals & Assists - 8 Goals, 1 Assist

Rating - 7.94

Vincent Aboubakar managed an incredible eight goals in his seven games, claiming the top scorer award.

Cameroon were also one of the pre-tournament favourites as hosts. It wasn’t to be, but that wasn’t without a valiant effort from the team.

Aboubakar was scoring at will at first, netting five goals in the group stage alone. More impressively, he didn’t even need a full game to nab a couple goals for his side. He only needed 45 minutes to get two goals, Man of the Match and Cameroon’s third-place finish in their final game of the tournament against Burkina Faso.

Karl Toko Ekambi - Cameroon

Games - 6

Goals & Assists - 5 Goals

Rating - 7.39

Another member of the Cameroon squad, Karl Toko Ekambi followed Aboubakar in the goal-scoring craze. Cameroon scored 14 goals across the tournament - and 13 of them came from Aboubakar and Toko Ekambi.

Toko Ekambi managed two goals in a game on two occasions, meaning his goals weren't stretched across all his games played but instead three magnificent performances.

And just like his team-mate, Vincent, he didn’t need a full game to get his goals either. He only played 90 minutes once, in the losing effort to Egypt on penalties in the semi-final.

Achraf Hakimi - Morocco

Games - 5

Goals & Assists - 2 Goals

Rating - 7.63

Morocco had a strong tournament, making it to the quarter-finals before losing to Egypt in extra-time. 

Achraf Hakimi had a solid tournament himself, scoring two goals from his right wing-back position and, more importantly, standing out defensively.

He averaged 3.8 tackles per game, which puts him second for the tournament. He also had a rate of 0.6 dribbles past per game, meaning whoever came up against him wasn’t getting past.

Soufiane Boufal - Morocco

Games - 5

Goals & Assists - 3 Goals

Rating - 7.51

Another member from the Morocco team but maybe more of a lesser-known player, former Southampton winger Soufiane Boufal was in fine form during the tournament, notching three goals along with one man of the match award.

When comparing him with other wingers, he put up some impressive numbers. Lets use Mo Salah, arguably the best player in the world, for the comparison. 

Both averaged 2.4 shots per game, but Salah scored two goals in the competition to Boufal’s three. 

Boufal made 3.2 key passes per game, Salah only 2.3. Boufal also made double the amount of dribbles per game, 2.6 to Salah’s 1.3.

But the best comparison is how he kept the ball. Salah on average was dispossessed 2.7 times per game and had 5.4 bad controls per game. Boufal’s rates sat at 1.8 and 3 respectively.

A pretty good tournament when compared to the best.

Mohamed Nbalie Kamara - Sierra Leone

Games - 3

Saves - 17

Rating - 7.67

We had to throw a goalkeeper in here, and really there was no one better statistically.

Sierra Leone lasted just the three group stage games, but because of Mohamed Nbalie Kamara, they never really looked that weak.

Kamara is just 22 years old in his first AFCON but was playing with years of experience. His first assignment was against the reigning champions, Algeria. Bear in mind that Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez is in that squad. 

Faced with 19 shots, eight of which were on target, Kamara held firm and kept a clean sheet, earning Man of the Match.

He saved a penalty in their second group stage game along with a further five saves to earn them another point against Ivory Coast, and he went on to concede just three goals throughout the tournament, making a joint tournament-best 17 saves along the way.