The first two nations to represent Africa at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics were confirmed on Tuesday night after Egypt and Morocco secured their tickets to the global showpiece through booking a place in the finals of the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2023.
The defending champions marched into the finals courtesy of a marvellous strike by Mohamed Mahmoud in the 8th minute which saw Guinea narrowly miss out of a place in the final but remain in contention for a third place finish which comes with an automatic ticket to Paris as the third African representative.
The Egyptians head into the finals with a an impressive record of zero goals conceded in both the group phase and semi-finals, a feat that sees them go into the final against the hosts high in confidence.
Tournament hosts, Morocco followed suit in securing their place in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics after a hard-fought 4-3 penalty victory over Mali that was preceded by a highly entertaining 2-2 stalemate.
The victory meant they officially become the second African nation to secure a place in Paris.
With both nations booking their place at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the cherry on top will be lifting the TotalEnergies CAF U23 AFCON title and travel to Paris as African champions.
Both Egypt and Morocco will be looking at reclaiming at least a top three finish for Africa at the global showpiece, with Nigeria being the last African nation to finish in the in that bracket during the 2016 edition held in Brazil.
Some notable performances by Africa at the Summer Olympics include Ghana’s 1992 third place finish, which was historically followed by two consecutive gold medals by Nigeria in 1996 (USA) and Cameroon (Australia).
Meanwhile, Guinea will face Mali for the third and fourth place play off, which will also be a decider as to who between the two nations joins Egypt and Morocco at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
There is still the chance for the loser of the third place payoff between Mali and Guinea to also seal a place at the competition to be held in Paris.
The fourth-placed side must win a play-off match against a country from Asia at a yet-to-be-decided date by competition organisers.