Ivorian Coach Next? Top 5 List of Youngest Coaches to Win the Africa Cup of Nations

Ivorian Coach Next? Top 5 List of Youngest Coaches to Win the Africa Cup of Nations

Top five youngest managers to win the AFCON title, with Fae as a potential sixth if he beats Nigeria in the final.

The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the most prestigious football tournament in the continent. It showcases the best talents and teams from Africa, and also the best managers who lead them to glory.

One of the managers who could make history in the 2024 edition is Fae, the coach of Ivory Coast. He was given the reigns of the national team after the Ivoran Federation sacked Jean-Louis Gasset. If he scales through Nigeria in the final, he will become one of the youngest managers to win the AFCON title.

Photo of coaches
Youngest coaches to win AFCON. Photo credit: @caf_online/X
Source: Twitter

In this listicle, Legit.ng look at the top 5 youngest coaches to win the AFCON, and how they did it.

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5. Claude Le Roy (Cameroon 1988) - 40 years

Claude Le Roy is a French coach who has managed several African teams, including Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Congo, and Togo. He is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in Africa, having won the AFCON once and reached the quarter-finals six times.

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His first and only AFCON title came in 1988, when he led Cameroon to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the final. Le Roy had just celebrated his 40th birthday a month before, on February 6.

4. Fred Osam-Duodu (Ghana 1978) - 39 years

Fred Osam-Duodu was a Ghanaian coach who won the AFCON twice, in 1978 and 1982. He is considered one of the greatest coaches in Ghanaian football history, having also coached the national youth teams and various clubs.

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His first AFCON title came in 1978, when he guided Ghana to a 2-0 win over Uganda in the final. Osam-Duodu was only 39 years old then, and three months away from his 40th birthday.

3. Blagoje Vidinić (Zaire 1974) - 39 years

Blagoje Vidinić was a Yugoslav coach who had a successful career in Africa, especially with Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). He led Zaire to two AFCON titles, in 1968 and 1974, and also to their first and only appearance in the FIFA World Cup, in 1974.

His second AFCON title came in 1974, when he masterminded Zaire’s 2-0 win over Zambia in the final. Vidinić was also 39 years old at the time, but slightly younger than Osam-Duodu.

2. Abdel-Fattah Hamad Abu-Zeid (Sudan 1970) - 37 years

Abdel-Fattah Hamad Abu-Zeid was a Sudanese coach who made history by leading Sudan to their first and only AFCON title in 1970. He was also a former player who represented Sudan in the 1957 and 1959 editions of the tournament.

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His AFCON triumph came in 1970, when he inspired Sudan to a 1-0 win over Ghana in the final. Abu-Zeid was born in 1933, which means he was around 37 years old when he lifted the trophy. He is the second youngest coach to win the AFCON.

1. Charles Gyamfi (Ghana 1963) - 35 years

Charles Gyamfi is a Ghanaian legend who holds the record for the most AFCON titles as a coach, with three. He won his first title as a player in 1963, and then repeated the feat as a coach in 1965 and 1982. He is also the only person to have won the AFCON as both a player and a coach.

Oyinbo man correctly predicts 4 round of 16 matches in AFCON

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that an Oyinbo man who astonished many viewers by accurately forecasting four of the teams that advanced to the next phase in the AFCON round of 16 match went viral on TikTok.

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AFCON 2023: Nigeria coach points out 1 impressive quality of defeated South Africa

In his video shared by @hrvizak, he confidently predicted that Nigeria, Cape Verde, Angola and Equatorial Guinea would secure their spots in the Quarter final and they all did.

Despite the fact that some of his predictions turned out to be incorrect, many people were impressed by his remarkable skill and eagerly anticipated his upcoming forecasts.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Basit Jamiu avatar

Basit Jamiu (Editor) With more than 5 years of experience in the media (Ikeja Bird, Prime Progress, The Movee), Basit Jamiu works as an editor at Legit Nigeria. He started his journalism career after graduating from Ekiti State University in 2018. He is a 2024 Open Climate Fellow (West Africa), 2023 MTN Media Fellow, OCRP Fellow at ICIR, and Accountability Fellow at CJID. He can be reached via basit.jamiu@corp.legit.ng.