AFCON 2019 Round of 16 recap: Who’s moving on to the quarterfinals?

The lineup for the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals has been confirmed. Here’s a recap of how each of the eight nations secured progression.

Upsets were the theme of the day during the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 where no fewer than three pre-tournament favorites were eliminated. Hosts and record seven time champions were the biggest nation to fall while the likes of Morocco and reigning champions Cameroon were also sent packing. Here’s the full roundup.

Morocco vs. Benin

Having progressed as one of only three nations to win all three of their group stage matches, Morocco were considered strong favorites heading into the Round of 16. Their opponents, Benin, had never won a match in their previous 12 Africa Cup of Nations matches and only reached the knockout rounds on the backs of three draws.

Benin didn’t get the memo and took the lead through Moise Adilehou early in the second half. Morocco equalized through Youssef En-Nesyri soon after and looked set to snatch the win in added-time when they were awarded a penalty.

Hakim Ziyech stepped up but put his effort wide, a mistake the Moroccans would live to rue. With nothing separating the teams, the match went to extra-time where, despite having a man sent off, Benin held out to ultimately secure the upset with a penalty shootout win.

Uganda vs. Senegal

In the second of Friday’s two matches, Uganda took on one of the pre-tournament favorites, Senegal. Both nations had progressed from their respective groups as runners-up, with Uganda finishing behind hosts Egypt and Senegal behind Algeria.

The match was billed as a battle between Emmanuel Okwi and Sadio Mane, both of whom had scored two goals during the group stages. It was Mane who came out on top with the Senegalese forward scoring the only goal of the match to secure his nation’s progression.

The Liverpool forward also missed a late penalty — his second miss from the spot at the tournament — but heads into the quarterfinals as the joint-top goalscorer in the competition this year with three goals to his name.

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Nigeria vs. Cameroon

Reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions Cameroon met perennial contenders Nigeria in the Round of 16 on Saturday. The encounter proved to be one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament thus far with the two big-hitters trading goals with regular frequency.

Odion Ighalo put Nigeria ahead early on before two quick-fire goals from Stephane Bahoken and Clinton N’Jie sent Cameroon into the half-time break with a 2-1 lead. The Nigerians responded with two second half goals, through Ighalo and Alex Iwobi, and were able to hold on to claim the win.

Egypt vs. South Africa

In Saturday’s late match, hosts Egypt took on South Africa. Much like with Morocco before, the North Africans had won all three of their group stage matches and were overwhelming favorites against a side that had qualified as the fourth of the four best third-placed teams.

The South Africans delivered a defensive masterclass to keep the Egyptians at bay and in the 85th minute delivered a sucker-punch through Thembinkosi Lorch, whose goal was his first ever at senior international level.

The result was enough to secure South Africa an historic 1-0 win and saw the nation reach the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations competition for the first time since 2013.

Madagascar vs. DR Congo

Madagascar’s fairy-tale run at the Africa Cup of Nations continued on Sunday when they recorded a 2-2 (4-2) penalty shootout win over tournament dark horses, DR Congo.

The coastal islanders, who are taking part in their first ever AFCON competition, twice took the lead against their more fancied opposition but were forced to win the match on penalties after a late goal from Chancel Mbemba had forced the match into extra-time.

DR Congo ultimately fell as Madagascar’s second major scalp at the tournament, with the Malagasy previously beating Nigeria during the group stages.

Algeria vs. Guinea

Algeria are the team to beat at AFCON 2019. The 1990 champions are the only team remaining in the competition yet to lose a match, and have recorded a tournament-high nine goals and four clean sheets.

Led by the attacking talents of Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Adam Ounas — the latter of whom is the tournament’s joint-top scorer — Algeria continued their form with a comfortable 3-0 Round of 16 win over Guinea.

Mali vs. Ivory Coast

Two African powerhouses met when Mali and Ivory Coast went head-to-head. Both nations came into the encounter in good form, having enjoyed comfortable progression from their respective groups.

The Ivorians were marginal favorites heading into the match and lived up to the billing by claiming a narrow 1-0 win, courtesy of a late goal by Wilfired Zaha. The Crystal Palace winger has now scored two goals at the tournament, as many as he had in his previous 11 international appearances prior to arriving in Egypt.

Ghana vs. Tunisia

The Round of 16 concluded on Monday with a clash between Ghana and Tunisia. The latter headed into the match on the back of a disappointing group campaign in which they failed to win a single match while Ghana topped group F ahead of Cameroon.

As had been the trend throughout the week, form went out the window once the match had kicked off and Tunisia opened the scoring with just over fifteen minutes left to play. With the game drawing to a close, however, Ghana equalized through an own-goal through Rami Bedoui which forced the match into extra time, and ultimately into a penalty shootout.

Having seemingly spurned their chances of pulling off a memorable win in regulation time, Tunisia held their nerve in the shootout to secure their place in the quarterfinals.

The eight nations taking part in the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals have been confirmed. Here’s a look at which teams will be going head-to-head for a spot in the semis.