Nigeria, Morocco secure round 16 place with respective victories
Equatorial Guinea end Algeria’s unbeaten run
Gabon leave it late against Ghana to earn a vital point
African Cup of Nations enters the last round of games in the group stage with three countries progressing to the next round, following respective wins in the second round.
Unlike the first round, the second round saw 29 goals being scored in 12 games.
Cameroon started the round in a five-goal thriller against Ethiopia. The Indomitable Lions beat the Walias 4-1 to secure early qualification into the round of 16 stages of the tournament.
The second game of the day saw Cape Verde failing to build on the momentum from their win in the first game as Burkina Faso put one past the Islanders. Boureima Hassane Bandé’s first-half strike gave the Stallions a first win of the tournament.
On Friday, four matches came up with both Group B and Group C games being played. In Group B, Senegal shared the spoils with Guinea in a goalless stalemate, while Malawi beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in the other game.
Whereas in Group C, Morocco cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Comoros to make it two out of two and thus book their place in the round 16 stages.
The other group game saw Gabon salvage a point against Ghana in a 1-1 drawn game in Yaounde. The Black Stars failed to grab their first win of the tournament.
On Saturday, Nigeria thumped Sudan 3-1 while Egypt returned to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in Group D. Nigeria following the win have booked their place in the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Group E and Group F matches took place with Gambia holding Mali to a one-all draw in Group E. Tunisia bounced back from the loss to Mali to trash Mauritania 4-0.
In Group F, Sierra Leone fought back twice to record a dramatic two-all draw against Ivory Coast while defending Champions Algeria shockingly fell to Equatorial Guinea in a narrow 1-0 defeat. The loss means the Desert Foxes’ 35 games unbeaten run comes to a halt.
After the second-round games, Three teams have secured early qualifications so far, which include host Nation Cameroon, as well as Morocco and Nigeria.