Note: While this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations is officially referred as Afcon 2021, due to the tournament’s postponement, for continuity, we might sometimes refer to it as Afcon 2022.
The second round of group fixtures come to a climax at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon on Sunday.
Reigning champions Algeria need a win as they tackle Equatorial Guinea in Group E, while Ivory Coast play Sierra Leone with both matches in Douala.
Group F sees the focus on Limbe as Tunisia play Mauritania and The Gambia go up against Mali.
*All kick off times are in Central Africa Time.
Group F: Gambia vs Mali
The Africa Cup of Nations may not be a goal-fest yet, but that won’t bother Gambia and Mali as they gear up for their Group F clash on Sunday.
It’s a return to the scene of the refereeing crime for the Eagles, who pinched a win over fancied Tunisia by the only goal as official Janny Sikazwe lost all control of both his watch and the contest.
Ibrahima Kone’s penalty proved the difference, as keeper Ibrahim Mounkoro kept out Wabhi Khazri from 12 yards at the other end.
Ablie Jallow did the business for the Scorpions, who made a dream start to their debut Afcon with a narrow success against Mauritania.
Kick off at 15:00.
Group F: Tunisia vs Mauritania
Tunisia will step out to face Mauritania in Limbe on Sunday fired up by the mayhem that saw their Group F opener against Mali descend into farce in midweek.
The Carthage Eagles were denied several minutes of their attempt to claw back level from a goal down thanks to a bizarre performance from referee Janny Sikazwe.
It was a maddening blow for the North African side that are dark horses to claim the Afcon crown in Cameroon – and Wahbi Khazri’s penalty miss didn’t help either.
Their opponents were edged out by Gambia on their tournament debut, leaving them up against it as they tackle the fired up Tunisians.
Kick off at 18:00.
Group E: Ivory Coast vs Sierra Leone – 18.00
Ivory Coast can secure safe passage to the Africa Cup of Nations knockouts if they can make it two wins from two in Group E against minnows Sierra Leone on Sunday.
Captain Max Gradel produced an early goal for the Elephants on Wednesday night, as they came through a horrible game against Equatorial Guinea in Douala unscathed.
The Leone Stars feel like winners on their return to Africa’s top table, thanks to their almighty effort to hold reigning champions Algeria to a goalless draw in their pool opener.
If they can match that feat here it’ll put the underdogs in with a shout of at least progressing as a best third-place finisher.
Kick off at 18:00.
Group E: Algeria vs Equatorial Guinea – 21.00
Defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Algeria roll up their sleeves and try again on Sunday, as they attempt to kickstart their competition at the second time of asking against Equatorial Guinea.
The Ferenc Foxes were held to a thoroughly irritating draw by Afcon minnows Sierra Leone in Douala on Wednesday, leaving them with work to do if they are to reach the knockouts in Cameroon.
Their opponents are up against it after failing to recover from conceding an early goal to the Ivory Coast on the same evening.
The minnows, who defied the odds to finish fourth in 2015, will need to summon that spirit again if they are to make it through.
Kick off at 21:00.
Africa Cup of Nations 2022: Latest group standings
Find all the latest standings, fixtures and results for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations here.
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Group F
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Africa Cup of Nations predictions for 16 January
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing. Other odds added here are taken from soccerstats247’s algorithm.