The knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations is well and truly underway and with Cameroon turning up the heat, the onus is on Senegal, Morocco and Ivory Coast to secure their own safe passage to the last eight.
Cameroon end Comoros’ fairytale
Bringing minnows Comoros’ stellar run – the feel-good story of the tournament – to a halt with a 2-1 win in Yaoundé in Monday night’s last-16 affair, the host nation’s stock continues to rise.
The Indomitable Lions were made to scrap against their depleted underdog opponents, who were forced to field full-back Chaker Alhadhur in goal for the entirety of the clash and were reduced to ten men after just seven minutes.
Goals from Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar saw the Cameroonians’ odds of claiming a sixth title slashed to just 11/4.
Toni Conceicao’s side will be relatively content with their last-eight draw, too – the hosts avoid the big names for at least another round and will face another success story, Gambia, the AFCON debutants who edged past a Guinea team severely weakened by the suspension of talisman Naby Keita.
Still, Musa Barrow, scorer of the encounter’s only goal with 19 minutes remaining, will likely be closely tracked by Cameroon in Saturday’s quarter-final action and the hosts remain overwhelming favourites at 20/41.
Ivory Coast, Egypt and Morocco on collision course
Should Cameroon successfully navigate past Gambia, they are set to face far sterner opposition in the semi-finals. The bottom half of the tournament bracket features no fewer than four more trophy contenders – two of whom face one another in Wednesday’s headline fixture.
Having dumped out the seemingly unbeatable Algeria in the group stage, the Ivorians, under the tutelage of Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle, open their knockout account against none other than seven-time champions Egypt.
The Pharaohs atoned for the defeat to Nigeria in game one with one-goal wins over Sudan and Guinea Bissau, but seemed far from their sterling best in doing so and their odds for an unprecedented eighth crown have stretched to 12/1.
On Tuesday evening, Morocco and Malawi do battle for the right to face the winners of Ivory Coast against Egypt. The Atlas Lions remain the third-most fancied to lift the trophy at 5/1 to go all the way, but will be wary of potential slip-ups considering their elimination at the last-16 stage in 2019: a penalty shoot-out defeat to surprise package Benin.
This year, they face another outsider, Malawi, ranked 101 places below them in the FIFA rankings. The Flames, whose 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe proved their only win of the round-robin phase, stole into the second round via the ranking of third-placed finishers.
A price of 11/1 for a Malawian win sees them as firm underdogs in the last-16.
Plain sailing for Senegal?
In contrast, the top half of the draw is scanter in terms of big hitters; with Nigeria’s charge curtailed by Tunisia on Sunday, the Eagles of Carthage will fancy themselves against 14/1 title shots Burkina Faso in Saturday’s quarter-final.
Contesting the final two remaining last-eight berths are Mali and rank outsiders Equatorial Guinea, with the Malians at 5/7 to claim victory on Wednesday evening, as well as Senegal and Cape Verde on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lions of Teranga are behind only Cameroon in the betting stakes – available at 7/2 to claim a first-ever AFCON championship – and will be encouraged by the exit of Algeria, who pipped them in the 2019 final.
*All odds correct at time of writing.