Africa Cup of Nations predictions, fixtures and results: Monday 24 January 2022
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 next two Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finalists are decided on Monday, as the host nation begin their knockout journey on home soil.
Cameroon’s reward for qualification is a tie against the underdogs from the Comoros Islands, while there’s a West African derby between Guinea and The Gambia earlier in the day.
It’s a wide open Afcon tournament after reigning champions Algeria and fancied Ghana were both dumped out in the pool phase.
*All kick off times are in Central Africa Time.
Round of 16: Guinea vs Gambia
A battle of the West African runners-up sees Guinea meet The Gambia in the Round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday in Bafoussam.
They do so after Gambia pulled off an almighty upset to beat Tunisia in Group F last Thursday, edging out the Carthage Eagles into third place.
It was the perfect climax to an impressive pool display from the nation, whose lowly Fifa rankings means they are condemned to the preliminary qualifiers for the next edition of the tournament in Ivory Coast in 18 months’ time, whatever their progress in Cameroon.
But that’s a problem for another day, with their heroes scooping up seven points from a possible nine thanks to a win over Mauritania and a draw with Mali, who topped the standings by a single goal scored.
Guinea came through Group B as expected, with four points proving enough to secure safe passage to the knockouts.
The National Elephants were looking good following an opening win over Malawi and a goalless draw with stuttering pre-tournament favourites Senegal.
Defeat to wooden spoon holders Zimbabwe, however, left them vulnerable to results elsewhere, breathing a sigh of relief as the Senegalese held on for a draw against the Malawians.
Kick off at 18:00.
Round of 16: Cameroon vs Comoros
All is going to plan so far for host nation Cameroon, as they prepare to tackle the Comoros Islands in the Round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
The Indomitable Lions did the business in Group A at the earliest opportunity.
A come-from-behind victory over Burkina Faso in the Afcon curtain-raiser was backed up by a 4-1 thumping of pool minnows Ethiopia in Yaounde.
That meant being pegged back to a draw by Cape Verde in their third fixture proved neither here nor there.
Comoros have well and truly staked their claim as darlings of the competition, thanks to their stunning 3-2 victory over Ghana that skittled the Black Stars from the tournament in embarrassing fashion.
It was the Islanders’ only route to qualification, too, following defeats to top two Gabon and Morocco.
Three points proved enough to snatch a best third-placed finisher berth, but it’s the win over the African football heavyweights that will live long in the memory, whatever happens against the hosts.
Kick off at 21:00.
Africa Cup of Nations predictions for 24 January
Find all the latest standings, fixtures and results for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations here.
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.
