Last week, we brought you our round up of the Group Stages in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and at that point, there was still plenty to play for, with only one team eliminated from the competition and plenty of places in the Round of 16 up for grabs.
The final set of group games provided plenty of drama and saw two well-fancied teams, Ghana and Algeria, eliminated from the competition as they both surprisingly finished bottom of their respective groups.
On the other hand, there was joy for the likes of Comoros, Cape Verde and Gambia, who all progressed into the next round of the competition despite not being particularly fancied to do so.
We’ll give you a brief recap of who qualified from the groups and the results from the first two Round of 16 games and we will also take a look at how this has affected the odds on offer from bet365 Sport on which team will eventually win the tournament.
We’ll then finish with a look ahead to the remaining six Round of 16 games which are set to take place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
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Group Stage Finalised
The last games of the Group Stage in the 2022 AFCON were completed last week and
there were plenty of surprises.
Two of the biggest saw Ghana and Algeria exit the tournament after defeats in their last game of the group stage.
Ghana, needing a win to progress, were beaten 3-2 by the Comoros, a stunning result which has shocked African football. Comoros took an early lead and then Ghana had Andre Ayew sent off midway through the first half.
Comoros then extended their lead in the second through Ahmed Mogni before Ghana’s ten men staged a comeback, scoring twice to level the match before Mogni scored what proved to be the winner five minutes from time.
Algeria’s defence of the trophy they won in 2019 was ended when they lost 3-1 to Ivory Coast, ensuring they finished bottom of their group. Only one team, Nigeria, qualified from the group winning all three games.
The eight teams to be eliminated from the tournament after the group stage where Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Mauritania.
Round of 16 Ties
With the schedule for which qualifier will face another predetermined before the competition began, the Round of 16 ties and how the teams qualified left us with the following eight games.
- Burkina Faso v Gabon
- Nigeria v Tunisia
- Guinea v Gambia
- Cameroon v Comoros
- Senegal v Cape Verde
- Morocco v Malawi
- Ivory Coast v Egypt
- Mali v Equatorial Guinea
The games are to be played two per day from Sunday through to Wednesday this week, which means the first two games on this list have already been completed and we have had yet another surprising result in what has been a tournament full of them so far.
Round of 16 Results – Sunday
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Burkina Faso 1-1 Gabon (Burkina Faso win 7-6 on penalties)
In a somewhat fractious game that saw 15 yellow cards and one red awarded, in the end it
was Burkina Faso who progressed into the quarter finals courtesy of a win on penalties. Bertrand Traore put Burkina Faso ahead midway through the first half, making amends after missing an earlier penalty, and it seemed likely they would win the game when Sidney Obissa received a second yellow on 67 minutes to leave Gabon down to 10 men.
However, in injury time Adama Guira’s own goal handed Gabon a lifeline, but with no goals in extra time, penalties were required. Ismahila Ouedraogo scored the winning penalty to give Burkina Faso the win and a place in the next round, where they would face the winners of Sunday’s other Round of 16 tie.
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Nigeria 0-1 Tunisia
Nigeria qualified for the knockout phase with the only 100% Group Stage record. Tunisia scrambled in as one of the best third placed teams in the group stage so it would be the Super Eagles that would start as the clear favourites in this game.
Especially as the Tunisia team was hit hard by Covid-19 prior to the game.
However, after a tight first half Youssef Msakni’s long range strike handed Tunisia the lead early in the second half and Nigeria’s task was made all the more difficult when Alex Iwobi was sent off on 66 minutes.
In truth, Tunisia deserved the win as Nigeria struggled to create much against a solid Tunisian defence and it is they who will move on to take on Burkina Faso in the first quarterfinal on Saturday evening.
Let’s now quickly preview the remaining six Round of 16 ties coming up this week.
Round of 16 Preview – Monday to Wednesday
Games kick off at 4pm and 7pm each day and the games listed are shown in the order in
which they will be played.
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Guinea v Gambia
Guinea will be without Naby Keita for this game with the Liverpool man suspended after picking up a second yellow card in the tournament in the final group game. He will be a big loss for Guinea here against a Gambia side that have one of the best defences in the tournament. With neither side particularly prolific here, I think this one may require extra time and penalties to decide the winner. Take the draw at 90 minutes here which is 9/5 with bet365.
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Cameroon v Comoros
The new 3/1 favourites to win the tournament are the home team but they did draw their final group stage game. However, they are the massive 1/20 favourites to beat a Comoros side that have done sensationally well to reach this stage of the tournament by beating Ghana. That was a huge upset result but I cannot see anything other than a solid home win here for the hosts. Backing Cameroon to win is too short a price, so here I’d go for a 3-0 win for the home side which is a 9/2 chance.
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Senegal v Cape Verde
Senegal have hardly been a free flowing goalscoring giant in this competition, amassing five points in the group stage but scoring just one goal. They do have one of the weaker teams in the competition here in Cape Verde, who have done very well to get this far, but I think that they are going to struggle against a very talented Senegal side here. Take the 7/2 available on a 1-0 win for Senegal.
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Morocco v Malawi
Malawi have done superbly well to reach this stage of the tournament but they face a tough test against a Morocco side that topped their group comfortably. The North African side have a good record in this tournament over the years and they have a number of players that play at a good level in Europe. As such, I’d expect them to win this one. Take Morocco to win this one 2-0 at 4/1.
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Ivory Coast v Egypt
There’s no doubt that this is one of the biggest and most eye-catching games of the tournament so far. Ivory Coast topped their group well while Egypt finished second behind Nigeria. The Ivory Coast have one of the most talented squads in this tournament but Egypt have Mo Salah, who is capable of winning a game on his own. Egypt are the underdogs here but in a tournament of surprises, I am going to back them to land another here and take the win at 11/4.
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Mali v Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea have surprised any by reaching this stage of the tournament but they have fully deserved to. Mali though are a good side with some excellent players and they should have the slight advantage here, even if goals have been hard to come by for them at times. I think this will be a closer game than the bookies are suggesting but I am backing Mali to land the win without both teams scoring which is an 11/10 chance.
