Egypt, seven-time Africa Cup of Nations champions, will face an Ivorian side who have carved out an impressive path to the round of 16 in Douala on Wednesday (January 26th), while Equatorial Guinea will meet the mali.
Ivory Coast host Egypt this afternoon in an Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 clash. The kick-off of the meeting will take place at 5:00 p.m.
Egypt have won 10 of their 15 encounters with the Ivorians in CAN qualifiers and finals, but if they are to continue their impressive streak they will need to significantly improve their results in the group stage, where they have only scored twice finishing behind Nigeria.
Certainly, it will not be a match short of offensive power with Mohamed Salah against Wilfried Zaha, Sébastien Haller and Nicolas Pepe.
It was an incredibly impressive performance in the group stage from the Ivory Coast, who sealed first place with a 3-1 win over Algeria that toppled the defending champions. Nicolas Pepe in particular shone, much more confident with his country than when he played for Arsenal.
The winner will face Morocco in the quarter-finals, after coming back to beat Malawi 2-1, thanks to a masterful free kick from Achraf Hakimi.
In the other match of the day, Mali, which must face Equatorial Guinea this Wednesday at 8 p.m., is by far the favorite to win, having dominated its group, without tasting defeat during the tournament.
A win against Tunisia got their AFCON campaign off to a perfect start, and a draw against Gambia and then a comfortable win against Mauritania got them safely through to the knockout stages.
Equatorial Guinea will certainly not be intimidated. They have only qualified for the tournament twice in the past and they have made the most of each team, reaching the quarter-finals in 2012 and then finishing fourth in 2015.
They are also in good form, having ended Algeria’s 35-game unbeaten streak before advancing to the round of 16, and have every chance to continue their run and secure a quarter-final. against Senegal.
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