The Africa Cup of Nations’ eventful group stages came to a close on Thursday, with reigning champions Algeria crashing out with just a single point to their name after they were beaten by Ivory Coast 3-1.
There were compelling stories throughout in the lead up to the knockout stages, with the tournament finely balanced going into the round of 16.
𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝟭𝟲: 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃.
𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧: 𝐊𝐎𝐬.Who’ll make it to the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 quarters?
𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 | @1xBet_Eng pic.twitter.com/60bCYTiNcf
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021
(@CAF_Online) January 20, 2022
Hosts Cameroon Catch the Eye
Perhaps the biggest winners of the group stages were hosts Cameroon. The Indomitable Lions bucked the trend of a typically low scoring group stage with 2-1 and 4-1 wins, respectively, in their opening two games before a dead rubber draw with Cape Verde.
Striker Vincent Aboubakar found the net five times, which could be an insurmountable lead in the Golden Boot race.
To add to that, Cameroon have secured a much easier draw than some of their rivals, facing Comoros in the round of 16 before a clash with Guinea or Gambia in the quarter-finals.
As a result, the hosts have shot their way up the betting to be 4/1 favourites to win this year’s competition.
Debutants Progress
Gambia qualified for AFCON for the first time in their history this year, and a last-minute winner over ten-man Tunisia guaranteed them progress to the knockout stages.
The minnows went unbeaten in their group, conceding just once. They now face Naby Keita and Guinea in the round of 16, where they are 14/5 to cause an upset.
Tunisia’s Hard-Luck Story
Of the round of 16 draws, two jump out as heavyweight clashes between fancied runners. Firstly Nigeria and Tunisia face off in Garoua on Sunday. The pair represent two of the four highest-ranked teams by FIFA still in the tournament.
Nigeria breezed through their group, winning all three group games and conceding just once.
Tunisia can rightfully feel aggrieved over ending up in third place in Group F after losing a controversial opener against Mali. The referee blew the final whistle early and then fell to a last-minute winner from Gambia after playing an hour with ten men.
Nigeria are 4/5 to win in 90 minutes, with Tunisia 7/2 and the draw 49/20.
Former Champions do Battle
The other tie to turn heads in the round of 16 is that between Ivory Coast winners in 2015 and Egypt, the most successful team in AFCON history.
Mo Salah’s side have struggled so far; they were comfortably beaten by Nigeria in their opener before a pair of 1-0 wins over Guinea-Bissau and Sudan that hardly set the world alight.
They face an Ivory Coast side who have been in emphatic form going forwards. The Elephants have an embarrassment of riches in attacking areas and have put them to good use, netting six times in the groups.
They rounded off their Group E campaign with a convincing 3-1 victory over Algeria, although they did look vulnerable from set-pieces, something Egypt will have noted.
The Ivorians look a solid proposition at 23/20, however, with the draw 19/10 and Egypt 13/5.
*All odds correct at time of writing.