Elvis
Let's take a deep dive, shall we?
Twelve of the top two teams and four third-placed teams have made it to the round of 16, which is slated to begin today, January 27th.
The teams are Cape Verde, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Angola, Burkina Faso, Mali, South Africa, Morocco, DR Congo, Guinea, Namibia, Mauritania, and the hosts, Ivory Coast. It has become a "fight to the death" as only the better team over either 90 minutes, extra time, or Penalty shootouts make it to the next stage.
In Group A, Equatoria Guinea made the first position with two wins and a draw, amassing 7 points and 9 goals. With the current tournament's top scorer, Emilio Nsue, on the team, there is no telling what they can do. Nigeria made the second spot with the same points but fewer goals. Hopefully, the Super Eagles will get something right this time as they may not be a second or third chance like in the group stages. The tournament hosts, one of the giants of African football, narrowly made it through, albeit with very poor performances so far.
In Group B, Egypt qualified despite the loss of their talisman, Mohammed Salah, with three points. Cape Verde, the table toppers won 7 points, and it came as a little surprise since they are not considered a footballing nation just yet. We can only wait and see if that changes after this tournament.
In Group C, we have Senegal, arguably the best and most exciting team in the tournament so far, who won all their matches, scoring 8 goals and gathering all possible 9 points. It is believed that their next opponents might be just a piece of cake, but they should be wary as football is always unpredictable. With Mane, Koulibaly, Mendy, Sarr, and the likes, they might just be retaining the crown. Meanwhile, Cameroon made the cut with 4 points, alongside Guinea.
Algeria led the way in Group D with 7 points and 5 goals. Burkina Faso was slightly behind with 4 points and three goals. We can only wait to see how the confidence of Hubert Velud, head coach of Burkina Faso, will rub off on the team. Mauritania joined the escapees with three points from three matches.
In Group E, Mali won with five points from three games. Followed closely were South Africa and Namibia who were tied on four points each from their respective three matches.
In the final group, Group F, Morocco, a team that did wonders in the last World Cup, seems to have picked up where they left off—leading the way with 7 points from their three matches. If their performances in the last World Cup are anything to go by, we might just be looking at one of the favorites. Reaching the finish line alongside them were Congo DR, who managed to scale through with one more point ahead of Tanzania and Zambia.
Below are the dates and times of the fixtures;
Angola Vs Namibia 6 pm Nigeria Time, Saturday 27th January 2024
Nigeria Vs Cameroon 9 pm Nigeria Time, Saturday 27th January, 2024
Equatorial Guinea Vs Guinea 6 pm Nigeria Time, Sunday 28th January 2024
Egypt Vs DR Congo 9 pm Nigeria Time, Sunday 28th January, 2024
Cape Verde Vs Mauritania 6 pm Nigeria Time, Monday 29th January 2024
Senegal Vs Ivory Coast 9 pm Nigeria Time, Monday 29th January 2024
Mali Vs Burkina Faso 6 pm Nigeria Time, Tuesday 30th January 2024
Morocco Vs South Africa 9 pm Nigeria Time, Tuesday 30th January 2024
