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.
It’s time to discover the last two quarter-finalists at the Africa Cup of Nations, as the Round of 16 comes to its climax on Wednesday in Cameroon.
All eyes are on Douala for a massive clash between Ivory Coast and Egypt, in a fixture that could have been much later in the tournament.
Mali then meet Equatorial Guinea in Limbe to decide the last nation to reach the quarters.
*All kick off times are in Central Africa Time.
Round of 16: Ivory Coast vs Egypt
Arguably the tie of the round is saved for the final day of last 16 action at the Africa Cup of Nations, as Ivory Coast do battle with Egypt for a place in the quarter-finals.
It’s a mouthwatering tie that pits the winners of Group E against the nation that finished second in Group D.
The Elephants edged past Equatorial Guinea in their opening assignment before being pegged back to a 2-2 draw by gutsy Sierra Leone.
But they saved their best for last to send defending champions Algeria tumbling out at the first pass, thanks to a 3-1 victory in Douala.
Egypt had the worst possible start in losing to Nigeria, paving the way for the Super Eagles to win the group with a perfect record.
But the Pharaohs hit back to beat Guinea-Bissau, with Mohamed Salah scoring the only goal, before pulling the same trick to edge out Sudan into third place.
Kick off at 18:00.
Round of 16: Mali vs Equatorial Guinea
Africa Cup of Nations fans can expect a keenly fought contest in Limbe on Wednesday, as Mali and Equatorial Guinea square off in the final Round of 16 tie to seal the last place in the quarter-finals.
Both have done well in Cameroon so far, finishing top and second of their respective groups.
Mali made the perfect start to life in Group F by seeing off dark horses Tunisia 1-0.
They were held to a draw by Gambia, who went on to finish a surprise second, but did enough to see off pointless Mauritania 2-0 and finish in first place.
Equatorial Guinea fell foul of impressive Ivory Coast in their Group E opener.
But they came good with single-goal successes against both defending champions Algeria and plucky Sierra Leone to book their last 16 ticket.
Kick off at 21:00.
Africa Cup of Nations predictions for 26 January
Find all the?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.