Ex-Newcastle United boss sacked from international post as Yankuba Minteh suffers AFCON exit

The 2024 African Cup of Nations has already thrown up some great entertainment and a huge amount of stories, despite the knockout rounds not beginning until the weekend. Newcastle United were represented solely by loanee Yankuba Minteh at the tournament, but the winger couldn’t help his nation progress from the group stage. Gambia, who have never won the tournament, lost all three group stage games against Senegal, Cameroon and Guinea as they exited the tournament bottom of their group. 

Minteh, who has impressed at Feyenoord this campaign, leading to speculation that he could be in-line for a return to Newcastle this month, started two of Gambia’s three group games, playing 83 minutes and the full match in games against Senegal and Cameroon. Those games bookend a 28 minute stint off the bench against Guinea, but the 19-year-old failed to register a goal.

Gambia were not one of the fancied sides in the competition with Minteh set to return to the Netherlands as Feyenoord aim for a strong finish to their Eredivisie campaign and a good showing in the Europa League where they face Roma in the knockout round. However, whilst Gambia headed to the Ivory Coast as an unfancied side, some big names including Tunisia and Algeria have also been knocked out of the competition.

Joining these sides was Ghana whose two draws and subsequent third-placed finish in Group B was not enough to see them progress to the knockout stage. Ghana were managed by former Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton, however, he has since been sacked following their disappointing AFCON showing. 

Hughton took charge of the Black Stars in February last year having spent a year as a technical advisor. A statement released by the Ghana Football Association read: "Chris Hughton has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect. The executive council has also taken a decision to dissolve the technical team of the Black Stars. The GFA will in the coming days provide a roadmap on the future direction of the Black Stars."

Hughton has been out of club management since leaving his post as Nottingham Forest manager in September 2021 - a role he had held for just under a year.