Jamie Carragher Breaks Silence on AFCON Remarks, Addresses Criticism

Jamie Carragher has released a statement on social media over his comments about the importance of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Liverpool great flippantly commented that the continental competition isn’t a ‘major tournament’ and has plenty of knockbacks.

Carragher was discussing Mohamed Salah’s form at the time following another goal and assist in a 2-0 win over Manchester City when the subject switched to his Ballon d’Or chances.

The Egyptian is currently the betting favorite to claim football’s biggest individual prize, having never finished higher than fifth previously.

On top of that, the 32-year-old wasn’t even on the 30-man shortlist in 2024 and finished 11th in 2023.

Attempting to explain why he’d never been higher, Carragher said: “I think the problem is the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such or maybe got a great chance of winning.

“I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament [that wins it], the player who excels in that, like Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe right now.

Micah Richards then had a quick input, saying: “I’ll just say, AFCON is a major tournament.

“A lot of people at home will say they’re taking that seriously. AFCON is a major tournament, just so you know.”

Daniel Sturridge, a former teammate of Carragher’s at Liverpool, agreed with his fellow ex-Manchester City player, adding: “It’s a fact, it’s a fact.

“If you win the Euros or the Copa America it’s deemed to be big, so AFCON is on the same level.”

Carragher muttered ‘oh my god’ during the debate, and looked to the camera in shock.

However, he may well be shocked by the criticism he’s received, with Salah’s former Egypt teammate Ahmed Elmohamady taking to social media to voice his opinion.

“Jamie Carragher doesn’t know what major tournaments are because he never won one,” the former Sunderland, Hull and Aston Villa right-back wrote.

“AFCON is a Major Tournament. So proud to have won it twice.”

Elmohamady won the continental competition in 2008 and 2010, while Salah did not feature in those triumphs before twice losing in finals in 2017 and 2021.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former Manchester United defender said: “That comment is representative of the majority of people out there, I think it’s an ignorant thought process.

“If you go to Didier Drogba [Samuel] Eto’o, [Riyad] Mahrez, Salah now, they’ll say ‘we have to win this’ Yes it doesn’t get backed like the Euros investment-wise, but that doesn’t mean you have to devalue it, it’s a continent of huge power that contributes to European football massively.

“It should be respected more than it is. I understand what Jamie’s saying, but I don’t agree with it; that’s a majority view, and it’s not right.

“What Jamie’s saying, and he’s right if Salah won AFCON, it would have no bearing on anyone’s voting on the Ballon d’Or, and that’s wrong; that was one of the parts he was arguing about.”

Carragher called Ferdinand a ‘clown’ in response to this criticism on Instagram and has taken to his X account to address the criticism as a whole, admitting his comments were ‘clumsy’.

“The point I was trying to make yesterday was that Mo Salah is at a disadvantage playing for Egypt in terms of him winning the Ballon d’Or,” he began.

“If Salah had an average season at Liverpool but won the AFCON and was MVP [most valuable player], I don’t think he would win the Ballon d’Or because I don’t think AFCON carries the weight of other tournaments.

“But if [Kylian] Mbappe had an average season at Real Madrid but won the World Cup or Euros he would still have a great opportunity.

“It’s not just about certain tournaments, [Andriy] Shevchenko (Ukraine) [Robert] Lewandowski (Poland) were never going to win the World Cup/Euros to help their case for the prize. I don’t think it’s controversial at all. It’s just a fact.”

Addressing Mane’s runners-up finish in the Ballon d’Or rankings, he continued: “I know Mane came 2nd a few years back after winning the tournament, but that alone wouldn’t have got him to that position; it was LFC being two games away from a quadruple that played a big role also.

“It’s not disrespectful if I feel the WC/Euros/CL are better tournaments it’s just my opinion when I watch them. Saying it wasn’t a major competition was clumsy but I think most people watching could understand the point I was trying to make.”

He then addressed the look to camera he made and why he’d taken to social media to respond.

“The face I pulled when Micah interjected had nothing to do with the merits of the tournament,” he said.

“I just knew as soon as he did what the reaction was going to be! I get a lot of people didn’t like what I said, and that’s fine.

“I don’t normally respond to things on here with posts like this but
I decided to tweet in the end after seeing so many phones jumping on the bandwagon and playing to the gallery when they knew what I meant.

“Good luck, Mo, you little dancer.”