Martin Moses
January 29, 2024 at 12:44 PM
- Stanley Nwabali leads the list of goalkeepers with the most clean sheets at AFCON 2023
- The Super Eagles will be sweating on his fitness ahead of their last-eight clash vs Angola
- Sports Brief brings you a list of the goalkeepers who have kept two or more clean sheets
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is firmly in its business end as teams race to punch their quarter-final tickets.
In a tournament that saw heavyweights like Algeria and Ghana exit in the group stage, more have followed, with Egypt and Cameroon among the ones failing at the first knockout stage.
Source: Getty Images
The Ivory Coast edition has been hailed as one of the best so far. From immaculate refereeing to vintage goals to minnows bringing their A-game, it promises to be remembered by many generations to come.
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But for every success, there has to be a drawback. Defending and goalkeeping have taken a backseat across the six stadia in Ivory Coast.
Ahead of day three of the round of 16 fixtures, 94 goals have already been scored at this tournament compared to the 100 goals we saw in the entire 2022 edition.
Despite this, Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali has proven to be a rock for the Super Eagles, with Jose Peseiro carving out a defensive acumen. Nwabali has only conceded once and leads the list of goalkeepers with the most clean sheets at the tournament.
Angola’s Neblu is among the many goalkeepers who have two clean sheets, but he is unlikely to get a chance to add to his tally after he was sent off against Namibia in the round of 16.
Goalkeepers with most clean sheets AFCON 2023
Sports Brief takes a look at the leading contenders for the goalkeeper of the tournament
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Football
|
Rank |
Player |
Nation |
Matches Played |
Goals Conceded |
Clean sheets |
|
1 |
Stanley Nwabali |
Nigeria |
4 |
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
Djigui Diarra |
Mali |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
3 |
Lionel Mpasi-Nzau |
DR Congo |
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
4 |
Edouard Mendy |
Senegal |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
5 |
Yassine Bounou |
Morocco |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
6 |
Ronwen Williams |
South Africa |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
7 |
Ibrahim Kone |
Guinea |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
8 |
Neblu |
Angola |
4 |
3 |
2 |
|
9 |
Lloyd Junior Kazapua |
Namibia |
4 |
7 |
2 |
Stats courtesy of Transfermarkt.com.
Nwabali’s provides status update
Meanwhile, Nwabali discussed his current injury status after the game against Cameroon. The Chippa United keeper had to be stretchered off and was replaced by Francis Uzoho.
He remains a doubt for the AFCON quarter-final game against Angola after he confirmed to Sports Brief that he was still feeling pain ahead of an assessment by the team doctors.