AFCON; WHAT'S NEXT??
Hello everyone, greetings to you from my side of the world.
As the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stages come to a close, next up is the round of 16, and with it comes the elimination rounds. So let's take a look at how it all went down.
GROUP A
Group A housed the host and also one of the tourney favourites Cameroon, 2013 finalist Burkina Faso, the blue sharks of Cape Verde and Ethiopia. This group lived up to the expectations of the fans as the powerhouses in Cameroon and Burkina Faso claimed the first and second sport, thus automatically booking their place in the round of 16.
GROUP B
Senegal, one of the tourney favourites struggled with Covid at the start of the tournament and had an awful outing at the group stages as they could only manage a single Mane penalty goal in 3 matches but still managed to claim the top spot and was accompanied by Guinea for the two automatic tickets.
GROUP C
Morocco emerge as the group winners, with one of the African football powerhouses in Ghana being dumped out. I couldn't be happy or sad about it as I wanted them too far and at the same time wanted Partey soon in our club colours.
GROUP D
Nigeria against all odds from the start managed to keep a 100% win record so far and is the only Nation to do so. What makes it so interesting is because 7 times AFCON winners (Egypt) was placed in this group and they could only manage the second automatic ticket.
GROUP E
This group greeted us with another big surprise as defending champions Algeria was sent packing early. Ivory Coast claim the top spot, while Equatorial Guinea with all odds against them took the second qualifying spot.
GROUP F
Tunisia, runners up in the just-concluded Arab Cup was considered one of the dark horses to go far in Cameroon. But just the champions of the Arab cup (Algeria) couldn't battle for the top spot. Mali ultimately claim the summit and rightfully so, while debutants Gambia took the second spot.
BEST LOSERS
This is a category for those teams who could only finish third but ranked according to the number of points they could amass. 4 teams were picked from this group to complete the 16 teams for the next round. Among this group of teams picked are:
- Cape Verde of group A
- Malawi of Group B
- Tunisia of Group F
- Comoros of Group C
BIGGEST WINNERS:
The best of the Nations victories and performances includes Nigeria, who came out unscratched in a Group that has African giants Egypt. They were victorious as group winners winning three out of three. On the same note in Cameroon, the host has put in a wonderful show for invited nations to follow suit. Another wonderful team performance comes in the form of Ivory Coast who initially had troubles but currently plays a well-organized football filled with energy and goals for followers and fans alike to enjoy.
Another team to be considered among the big winners is Equatorial Guinea, a nation not known by many single helped in knocking out the current AFCON defending champions Algeria in a breathtaking encounter.
Gabon and Comoros should also be considered in this scenery as they managed to hold onto the second and third respectively and qualify for the next round in a group that has competition favourites, Ghana and Morocco.
BIGGEST LOSERS
In such a competition, no one is considered a loser as the competition is fiercely contested but some teams have performed below their set standards, and such team's includes;
ALGERIA:
Algeria "Defending Champions" came into this competition with a lot of prospects and was considered bookies favourites to lift the trophy as they did in 2019. But couldn't live up to these expectations as they crash out from the group stages.
GHANA
This is another team that performs so well in Africa and was heavily favoured to win it with their array of stars but was a shamble of themselves this time around as they could only amass a single point in a group that comprises competition debutants in Comoros.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE ROUND OF 16
With the draws set, the round of 16 kicks starts on Sunday 23rd with Burkina Faso taking on Gabon. Below are the fixtures and the Pyramid.
AFCON 21 Round of 16 Fixtures
Pathway to the Crown.
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