Good day everyone,

I hope you are all having a nice weekend. Welcome to cryptogod-1’s blog on all things sports. Today I will be looking at how the AFCON tournament has gone so far, and also at the fixtures ahead which will be the Round of 16.

Group Standings

Group A

Cameroon - 7pts - Qualified

Burkina Faso - 4 pts - Qualified

Cape Verde - 4 pts - Qualified (Best Third Placed) 

Ethiopia - 1 pts

Group B

Senegal - 5 pts - Qualified

Guinea - 4 pts - Qualified

Malawi - 4 pts - Qualified (Best Third Placed) 

Zimbabwe - 3 pts

Group C

Morocco - 7 pts - Qualified

Gabon - 5 pts - Qualified

Comoros - 3 pts - Qualified (Best Third Placed) 

Ghana - 1 pts

Group D

Nigeria - 9 pts - Qualified

Egypt - 6 pts - Qualified

Sudan - 1 pts

Guinea-Bissau - 1 pts

Group E

Ivory Coast - 7 pts - Qualified

Equatorial Guinea - 6 pts - Qualified

Sierra Leone - 2 pts

Algeria - 1 pts

Group F

Mali - 7 pts - Qualified

Gambia - 7 pts - Qualified

Tunisia - 3 pts - Qualified (Best Third Placed) 

Mauritania - 0 pts

What turned out to be some very exciting group stage matches saw one of the biggest shocks of the tournament so far with Ghana not making it out of the group stage. They finished bottom of their group after a very poor showing and its the first time in their history to not make it out of the groups. Egypt have not performed to their best so far, and even with arguably the best player in the world currently in Salah, they will need to improve if they wish to go far in this competition. Senegal scraped their way to the top of Group B but again have failed to put in any substantial performances so far. As for Algeria, one of the favourites and the current holders of the tournament, it was an awful showing from them, getting knocked out in the Group stage and really never hitting anywhere near their top levels. Nigeria have looked very strong and comfortably won their group with three victories, while hosts Cameroon have scored for fun, although had arguably one of the easier groups. Ivory Coast will all be very satisfied with their performances so far and could be a contender to go a long way in this competition. The best placed third teams saw some tight competition but overall one point proved to be key in determining who made it on to the next round. Sudan and Sierra Leone will be disappointed to miss out but it wasn't to be for them in this competition.

Top Scorers after Group Stage

After a thrilling round of group matches, below are the top scorers in the tournament so far:

Aboubakar - Cameroon - 5 goals

Koné - Mali - 3 goals

Jallow - Gambia - 2 goals

Mongi - Comoros - 2 goals

Mhango - Malawi - 2 goals

Allevinah - Gabon - 2 goals

Ekambi - Cameroon - 2 goals

Pépé - Ivory Coast - 2 goals

Boufal - Morocco - 2 goals

Khazri - Tunisia - 2 goals

Round of 16 Draw

Below is the fixtures and dates of the round of 16 matches. These games have been decided via the top two teams from each group, and the four best third placed teams.

Burkina Faso v Gabon - Sunday 23rd of January 

Nigeria v Tunisia - Sunday 23rd of January 

Guinea v Gambia - Monday 24th of January 

Cameroon v Comoros - Monday 24th of January 

Senegal v Cape Verde - Tuesday 25th of January 

Morocco v Malawi - Tuesday 25th of January 

Ivory Coast v Egypt - Wednesday 26th of January 

Mali v Equatorial Guinea - Wednesday 26th of January 

The quarter finals will take place from Saturday the 29th of January. Previously I did a write up on the AFCON tournament as a preview if anybody would like to check that out, it is available here: African Cup of Nations

Have a great weekend, I hope you are enjoy the AFCON tournament if you get to view it, and it should be a very exciting knockout stage ahead.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.

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