It’s a night of high drama on Monday at the Africa Cup of Nations, with another pair of tantalizing Round of 16 fixtures in Cote d’Ivoire.
The host nation somehow scraped through to the knockouts, but their dubious reward is a clash with reigning Afcon champions Senegal, who have the Ivorians firmly in their sights.
And there’s a battle of the underdogs beforehand, with impressive Cape Verde meeting Mauritania for a coveted quarter-final berth.
Cape Verde vs Mauritania – 19.00
We could be in for quite the Round of 16 contest at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, as Cape Verde go up against Mauritania in Cote d’Ivoire.
Both have surprised in their own way at the delayed 2023 Afcon edition.
The island nation caused a real upset in cruising to the top of the Group B standings, including a win over Ghana along the way which ultimately helped to dump the Black Stars out of the competition at the first hurdle.
It was quite the opening statement, paving the way for a 3-0 success against Mozambique to secure progression at the earliest opportunity.
That left a free swing at tempestuous Egypt and a game that lurched this way and that before the Blue Sharks conjured up a 99th minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw that meant both nations went through.
Mauritania made their own magic against north African opposition, too.
The minnows clung on for dear life to their one-goal lead against 2019 Afcon champions Algeria, dumping them out of the tournament and sneaking themselves through to the last 16 as a best third-placed finisher.
Few were predicting that after their first two matches in Group D.
They were unlucky to be edged out by Burkina Faso in their opening encounter, before also going down by a single goal in a 3-2 loss to pool winners Angola, showing plenty of signs the fighting spirit is there to keep their competition fire burning a little longer yet.
Senegal vs Cote d’Ivoire – 22.00
The Africa Cup of Nations delivers yet another heavy duty contest at the Round of 16 stage on Monday night, as reigning champions Senegal take on host nation Cote d’Ivoire.
It’s a daunting task but an opportunity the Ivorians thought they wouldn’t have when they lost their last two Group A fixtures.
But they scraped through, somehow, as one of the best third-placed finishers despite collecting just the three pool phase points from their Afcon opener against Guinea-Bissau.
The Lions of Teranga are in ominous form for the rest of the Afcon pack.
Sadio Mane and Co were the only nation to come through the group stage with a perfect record, sweeping up three wins from three to set the tone for a run deep into another tournament.
A 3-0 trouncing of Gambia set things rolling as Lamine Camara scored twice.
Then came a statement 3-1 success over Cameroon as Mane added the injury time gloss, before a 2-0 victory over Guinea saw them come through a rough-and-tumble encounter unscathed.
Afcon Round of 16 predictions and fixtures for 29 January
*All kick off times are in Central Africa Time.
Cape Verde Islands v Mauritania
| Result prediction | Cape Verde Islands to win |
| Over/Under prediction | under 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Cape Verde Islands to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Senegal v Côte d’Ivoire
| Result prediction | Senegal to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | draw / Senegal to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |