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
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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
