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Afcon 2021 ( 2022) Semi Final Stage

Olusola
Cameroon player celebrates

The countries into the semi final of Afcon 2021 are Burkina Faso, Egypt, Cameroon and Senegal.

Burkina Faso are the surprise semifinalists. They defeated highly rated Tunisia by 1-0. The Burkinabes will face Senegal in the semifinal. They have got a chance even though  Senegal are the favorites to go through.

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In the second  semifinal game, Egypt will take on Cameroon. Since that 1-0 loss to Nigeria in the first game Egypt have hit fine form, eliminating IvoryCoast and Morocco in the process. For me, Egypt are now favorites to win the competition followed by Senegal.

Cameroon will need to be at their very best to beat the Egyptians.

The Cameroonians have home advantage though and have been very good in the tournament so far.  Egypt won’t find it easy at all but they are favourites to win.

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Review of Afcon Round of 16 & Preview of Quarter Final Fixtures

Olusola
Afcon Trophy

The Super Eagles of Nigeria were in the news again as they were surprisingly knocked out of Afcon by Tunisia. Tunisia restricted Nigeria to few chances and when they had theirs they scored. It was one of the worst performances of the super eagles in the knockout phase of this competition.

Burkina Faso were able to defeat Gabon only after 120 minutes of normal time winning 7-6 on penalties.

Gambia stunned Guinea, 1-0 while the Hosts, Cameroon, survived Comoros scare to finally win 2-1.

Senegal were too much for Cape Verde, downed them 2-0 while Morocco secured a hard fought victory over Malawi by 2-1.

The last two games of the second round produced no goals in normal and extra time.

Egypt defeated Ivory Coast 5-4 on penalties while Equatorial Guinea sent Mali out after winning 6-5 on penalties.

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The Quarter Final pairings see Gambia vs hosts, Cameroon. Cameroon will fancy their chances but they will surely get a run for their money.

Tunisia will take on Burkina Faso. Tunisia are the favorites here but they must not underrate their opponents.

Egypt will take on Morocco, sadly one of these teams will crash out. This game is equally poised.

Senegal’s prize for beating Comoros is a Quarter final match against Equatorial Guinea. Senegal are favourites to go through 

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Qatar 2022: African final qualifying round

Olusola

Nigeria will face Ghana in the final world cup Qualifier. It is going to be a 2 legged affair and the aggregate winners qualifying for Qatar 2022.

Matches will be played between 21st and 29th of March , 2022

Five countries will be representing Africa at the world cup.

final qualifying round pairings are listed below;

Egypt v Senegal

Cameroon v Algeria

Ghana v Nigeria

Democratic Republic of Congo v Morocco

Mali v Tunisia

The aggregate winners of the first and second leg matches will qualify for Qatar 2022.

AFCON round of 16 Preview

Olusola

The First round of Afcon 2021 have concluded. Notable absentees in the second round are Algeria; the defending champions, and Ghana. They were surprisingly eliminated in the first round.

The second round of Afcon commences Jan. 23rd with Burkina Faso playing Gabon and Nigeria vs Tunisia. These 2 matches will be tightly contested. For the game between Burkina Faso vs Gabon, any team can win. Nigeria will be fancied to beat Tunisia. Nigeria is the only team in the competition that have won all their first round games so far.

Guinea will take on Gambia. This game will be an even affair but Guinea will have the advantage based on experience.High flying Cameroon will hope to see off Comoros.

Senegalese title holes will be tested when they take on Cape Verde. Morocco should see off Malawi but it may not be easy.

If Ivory Coast will win the tournament they must beat Egypt. The match promises to be very interesting. Lastly Mali takes on Equatorial Guinea. Mali definitely have an edge in this one

Super Eagle Beat Sudan; Qualify for Next Stage

Olusola
Nigeria Vs Sudan

The super eagles of Nigeria have defeated Sudan to qualify for the next stage of AFCON. Nigeria made a blistering start to the game with their first goal just after 3 mins.

Samue Chukwueze  stroked home from a Moses Simon pass. Nigeria continued to press and  consequently scored their second goal on the strike of halftime. A Troost-Ekong header bounced off  Taiwo Awoniy, beating the Sudanese goalkeeper. 

Moses Simon increased Nigeria’s scoreline to 3-0 very early in the second. However the Sudanese got a consolation goal after a penalty was awarded against Nigeria following a foul by Ania in the box.

Nigeria tops the group with 6 points.

In the other game in group D, Egypt narrowly defeated Guinea Bissau by 1 goal to nil. Although Guinea Bissau gave the Egyptians a run for their money, Egypt missed many scoring chances and would have paid dearly but thanks to VAR for disallowing the goal that the Guineas scored 8 minutes from time.

With this win, Egypt moves to second on the table with 3 points. While Guinea Bissau and Sunday occupy the third and fourth position with one point each.

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Afcon Group D table as it stands