Sports
AFCON 2025: Excitement, expectations as Round of 16 begins
There are 16 teams left at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament, being hosted in Morocco and for the first time in December, has brought with it the good, bad and ugly.
However, one thing we haven’t had are shock exits.
Pre-tournament favourites like Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Senegal also negotiated their passage into the knockout rounds.
“AFCON has been great, in terms of the quality on show, just like the last tournament in Côte d’Ivoire,” Clinton McDubus, a top football analyst and podcaster, tells DAILY POST.
“The vibe has been a bit different, especially with the lack of significant upsets.
“However, I think it just shows that the bigger teams recognise that they cannot afford to be complacent.
“The gap between the elite and the rest is rapidly closing. The standout players, for me, have been Azzedine Ounahi, Brahim, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Maza and Ernan.
“A significant low point is still the attendance issue that has persisted through AFCON tournaments.
“It affects the atmosphere in games, but it’s not a football issue. It transcends football and is a difficult problem to solve precisely because of that.”
The presence of the heavyweights in the Round of 16, will provide a few exciting matches to fans.
But it does appear the one fixture that pundits especially are looking at is the clash between South Africa and Cameroon.
The two countries have not exactly pulled up trees in the tournament, but this could be the game to set it off.
“I think we are going to have a bunch of blockbuster games, because of the lack of upsets,” McDubus added.
“All the big teams advanced, and most of them are meeting one another.
“I think only Senegal and Morocco have relatively easy match-ups, based on team quality and level shown at the tournament so far.
“I’m predicting that the game of the round will be the South Africa – Cameroon game.
“While South Africa are an impressive side on their day, Cameroon are a team you can never write-off as they’ve shown so far.
“Despite all the internal issues they’ve dealt with and the absence of some big names for non-footballing reasons, they’ve remained formidable.
“I expect a fascinating tactical battle and a game decided on very little margins.”
However, for Nigerians, all eyes will be on Monday when the Super Eagles play Mozambique in their last-16 fixture.
Eric Chelle’s men are the only team that won all their group matches and the expectations are beginning to rise.
“Mozambique are not an easy team to face,” McDubus warned.
“They are daring and fearless, showing no respect for their more illustrious opponents. Every team they’ve faced so far had a difficult time.
“However, they have glaring defensive vulnerabilities that play right into Nigeria’s hands.
“The Super Eagles are very good at matching their opponents and whatever they bring.
“I think we will see a dominant performance that forces the Mozambique team into surrender. The team has a good chance of making the semi finals, at least, despite being on the more daunting side of the draw.
“Potentially facing hosts Morocco at that stage is a headache, but if there’s any team that can do it, it’s Nigeria.
“Morocco themselves don’t scare me. I don’t think they’re as good as their record winning streak originally suggested, and they’ve looked even less impressive at this tournament.
“I believe this Nigerian team is still quite underrated. We have a great chance of winning the trophy.”
