July 5, 2022
We’ve reached the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations and the shock results continue, with a number of surprise names through to the quarter-finals.
The top two in the betting following the group stage – Senegal and Morocco – are out of the tournament, while the likes of Egypt and Cameroon are also heading home.
Against the odds, Ivory Coast are still there while a number of smaller nations are threatening to cause a major shock by lifting the trophy.
Despite winning just one of their opening three matches and finishing third in Group A, Ivory Coast find themselves in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
The country’s football bosses decided to sack coach Jean-Louis Gasset following their 4-0 thumping at the hands of Equatorial Guinea.
After results went their way, Ivory Coast later found out they had qualified for the knockout stages – appointing Emerse Fae as their caretaker manager.
The hosts looked to be heading out of the tournament again in the last-16, 1-0 down to Senegal with just four minutes of normal time left to play.
But a penalty from Franck Kessie levelled matters, before The Elephants went on to win the tie on penalties and send the home fans into raptures.
Ivory Coast – who are now 3/1 to lift the trophy – will face Mali in the quarters, after they defeated Burkina Faso in the last-16.
The head-to-head stats are in the hosts’ favour, with the Ivory Coast unbeaten in their last three meetings with Mali – two wins and one draw.
After their win over Cameroon and defeats for Senegal and Morocco, Nigeria are now the favourites (15/8) to win the tournament.
The Super Eagles have lifted the trophy on three previous occasions and now Angola stand between them and the semi-finals.
Jose Peseiro’s men have gone under the radar a bit despite having not lost a game in the tournament. Nigeria finished second in Group A and have conceded just one goal in four matches.
They will face a tough test though against an Angola team that won Group D with seven points, before seeing off Namibia 3-0 in the last-16.
Gelson Dala, who plays his club football in Qatar, scored twice in that win and is joint-second in the Top Scorers charts, with four in the tournament.
Angola are the lowest ranked team left in the competition and are available at 20/1 in the Outright market.
In a tournament of shocks, the biggest surprise has arguably been the success of Cape Verde, who are now preparing for an AFCON quarter-final for only the second time.
The Blue Sharks, who have never qualified for a World Cup, have already beaten Ghana and drawn with Egypt in the last three weeks.
A 1-0 victory over Mauritania has set up a last-eight clash with South Africa, who are just seven places ahead of their opponents in the FIFA world rankings.
Bafana Bafana caused another tournament shock with their 2-0 last-16 success over Morocco, with an impressive defensive display catching the eye.
Morocco had 13 shots to South Africa’s five, but it was a third consecutive clean sheet for Hugo Broos’ squad – who are 11/1 to lift the trophy.
Cape Verde lead the way in the head-to-head stats – winning their last two meetings – although their last clash came back in 2017.
It’s bizarre to think that DR Congo have reached the quarter-finals of AFCON without winning a game in 90 minutes!
They drew all three of their group matches to qualify as runners-up in Group F, before then defeating Egypt on penalties in the last-16.
DR Congo’s three tournament goals have been scored by three different players, one of those being Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, who looks like being a key figure to their chances of going further.
The 1968 winners – 12/1 to win this year’s tournament - will now face Guinea in the quarter-finals, after Kaba Diawara’s squad saw off Equatorial Guinea with a dramatic stoppage-time winner.
Le Harve striker Mohamed Bayo has been one of their star players in this tournament, with the 25-year-old grabbing two goals to date, including that key goal in the last-16.
After one of the most fascinating group stages in AFCON history, we have a few unexpected last 16 matches to look forward to.
The likes of Ghana, Algeria and Tunisia have fallen by the wayside, while Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and Angola have topped their groups and are threatening to go deep in the tournament.
We’ve also seen the hosts, Ivory Coast, sack their manager Jean-Louis Gasset despite scraping through to the knockout stages.
