Less than a month-and-a-half after Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria to win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the continent's national sides are back in action with a series of intriguing friendly fixtures being played around the world.
We've got some tantalising showdowns to anticipate, and, we can expect some new-look giants on show with many heavyweights having appointed new coaches since the Nations Cup.
Among the standout fixtures, Nigeria play fierce rivals Ghana, Algeria meet South Africa, and Senegal square off with Gabon.
The road to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations also gets underway, with eight of the continent's minnows contesting the preliminary round of the year-long qualifying campaign.
AFCON champions Ivory Coast back in action
Emerse Faé picked up Ivory Coast's reins when they were at their lowest ebb during the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, and ultimately masterminded a remarkable resurrection.
Everything Faé achieved was in an interim capacity, but, unsurprisingly, he was given the job on a full-time basis and now has the task of building on that title success.
They'll face Benin in Amiens, France, on Friday before a showdown with two-time world champions Uruguay in Lens, France, next Tuesday.
Faé can look forward to further shaping this side but he'll have to do without Sèrge Aurier, recently signed by Galatasaray, and AFCON final hero Sébastien Haller, for whom the injury concerns that threatened his Nations Cup participation have re-emerged.
Osimhen missing for Nigeria, Finidi steps up as Ghana loom
Nigeria, like Ivory Coast, can hold their heads high after defying expectations at the Nations Cup, but they've had to contend with the subsequent departure of coach Jose Peseiro.
The Portuguese exited on a high, having belatedly get a tune out of this talented crop of players, but he left amid reports of unpaid salary, and with little love lost between him and the Nigeria Football Federation.
Nigeria opted -- somewhat belatedly -- to name Finidi George as interim head coach.
Finidi, a Champions League winner with Ajax Amsterdam, was part of Peseiro's backroom squad at the Nations Cup, and at least knows the players well.
"AFCON is gone so these are two games that are very crucial to Nigerians," Finidi told the NFF. "We'll take it seriously and make sure we get the best out of these two games."
The friendly against Ghana represents a testing start to life as interim boss, while Finidi will also have to contend with the absence of star man Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli forward, with five goals since AFCON, and transfer rumours continuing to swirl, is absent due to injury, but Finidi has no shortage of talented strikers to choose from -- albeit there's no one quite like Osimhen.
Ghana: Addo take two
Ghana, perhaps more so than any other African heavyweights, are in desperate need of a positive international break.
For a second consecutive Nations Cup, the Black Stars crashed out in the group stage, with the team and erstwhile head coach Chris Hughton facing a barrage of abuse on the back of their premature elimination.
Hughton's exit was inevitable -- lovely man, but he never came close to realising this squad's potential -- and Otto Addo returns to the top job after having overseen the national side's campaign at the 2022 World Cup.
The West Africans will face Nigeria and then Uganda in Marrakech, with Addo recalling Tariq Lamptey and Abdul Abdul Fatawu Issahaku after they missed the AFCON.
Addo, who made 15 appearances for Ghana, will juggle the Black Stars job alongside his role as talent coach at Borussia Dortmund before leaving the latter post at the season's end.
"It wasn't easy for me to make this decision, but I'm very grateful and happy that those responsible at Borussia Dortmund are allowing me to take this step," he told the Dortmund site. "It's a great privilege to be able to take on the role of head coach of my national team."
Algeria: Out with the old
This international break marks the start of a new era for Algeria, with coach Djamel Belmadi finally parting ways with the national federation in the aftermath of another dismal Nations Cup.
The Fennecs fell at the first hurdle in two consecutive AFCONs, and much as Belmadi had earned immense goodwill for winning the title in 2019, his popularity waned amid dwindling results and increasing touchline theatrics.
His replacement -- ex-Bordeaux, Lazio and Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic -- has seemingly opted to bring the curtain down definitively on that fine generation.
Veterans Riyad Mahrez, Sofiane Feghouli, Islam Slimani, Youcef Belaili, Ismaël Bennacer and Rais M'Bolhi are all missing, and it was surely time for a reset much as some of them have publicly criticised the way their omissions were handled.
Algeria, competing in the FIFA Series tournament, face Bolívia on Friday and South Africa on Tuesday.
Gabon's latest controversy
The Confederation of African Football investigated Gabon's Guélor Kanga earlier this year amid suspicions of age fraud, with the midfielder allegedly born five years after his mother was understood to have passed away.
The 33-year-old now finds himself in more trouble, sent home in disgrace from the international camp despite being named one of the squad's captains.
The allegation against Kanga this time is that he invited his brother and his wife to join the team in the Paris hotel where the squad is staying in preparation of friendlies against Senegal and Congo.
The national federation, FEGAFOOT, accused the Red Star Belgrade player, in a statement seen by ESPN, of an "indecent act" and a "break from the disciplinary requirements put in place [by head coach Thierry Mouyouma] to guarantee the cohesion of the group."
Cameroon, Congo DR, Guinea out of action
Three of Africa's more prominent national sides -- and three teams that reached the knockout stages of the latest Nations Cup -- are conspicuous by their inactivity during the March international break.
Cameroon, perhaps preoccupied by allegations of age fixing on an industrial scale within domestic football, are yet to replace departed head coach Rigobert Song, and have not organised fixtures during this international window.
It's a similar story for Congo DR.
They opted for a training camp in Turkey, rather than friendlies, after their excellent performance in reaching the semifinals in Ivory Coast, but that was cancelled amid disagreement between coach Sebastien Desabre and the Congolese sports ministry.
Guinea are in action -- against Vanuatu and Curacao -- but the Syli Nationale are playing with a largely homebased team, with the AFCON 2023 squad mostly staying with their club sides.
Minnows in action
Eight of the continent's minnows commence the road to Morocco this week, as they compete for four places in the group stage program.
The dust has barely settled on the last edition of the tournament, but, already, attention is turning to the next continental showpiece.
All but one of the eight teams competing in the preliminaries are ranked outside the world's top 150, although there is some AFCON pedigree among the outsiders -- with Liberia having reached the finals twice.
Mauritius, one-time qualifiers, are looking to end a 50-year absence from the Nations Cup.