AFCON 2023: Round of 16 fixtures and quarter-final predictions

The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations which is being hosted in Cote d'Ivoire has reached the second round phase with 16 teams advancing to the knockout stage of the tournament out of the 24 teams that started the competition.

Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea are the teams that shocked the football world as they both finished top in their respective groups. However, the exit of the Black Stars of Ghana shocked the football community especially the way they throw the ticket away against Mozambique.

The exit of Algeria also came as a shock following the fact that they were champions in 2019, one would have expected them to at least book a spot in the competition's round of 16.

Which teams have qualified for the Round of 16?

Group A: Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire

Group B: Cape Verde, Egypt

Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea

Group D: Angola, Burkina Faso, Mauritania

Group E: Mali, South Africa, Namibia

Group F: Morocco, DR Congo

Here are the AFCON 2023 Round of 16 fixtures:

January 27

Nigeria vs Cameroon
Angola vs Namibia

January 28

Egypt vs DR Congo
Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea

January 29

Cape Verde vs Mauritania
Senegal vs Ivory Coast

January 30

Mali vs Burkina Faso
Morocco vs South Africa

Predictions

The so-called small teams at the competition have shown that they will lie down and let the giants trample on them. There have been amazing performances, Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea deserve a worth mention as one of the teams that can go all the way to the latter stages of the tournament.

Here are the teams that stand a huge chance in the final eight spots.

(1) Nigeria
(2) Equatorial Guinea
(3) Cape Verde
(4) Senegal
(5) Egypt

(6 ) Angola
(7) Burkina Faso
(8) Morocco