Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Monday, December 29, 2025 22:56 / Updated Monday, December 29, 2025 23:06
The Africa Cup of Nations is approaching the end of the groups. So far, 6 nations have qualified for the 16-team knockout stage.
At the start there were 24 national teams, divided into 6 groups of 4 teams each. The top two teams from each group qualify directly for the “sixteenths”, and the rest will be chosen from the best 4 teams that rank 3rd in the groups.
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The round of 16 matches take place between 3 and 6 January 2026, with the quarter-finals on 9 and 10 January. The semi-finals are scheduled for January 13, and the final will be played in Rabat on January 18.
The top 6 national teams to qualify for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations
Algeria have already qualified after just two stagesafter defeating Burkina Faso and Sudan, respectively 1-0 and 3-0. Thus, regardless of the result with Equatorial Guinea, Algeria is the winner of group E.
The fight for the 2nd place in the group will take place in the direct match between Sudan and Burkina Faso, who have 3 points each.
Nigeria managed a similar performance in Group Cafter winning the first two matches, 2-1 with Tanzania and 3-2 with Tunisia, so the match with Uganda cannot change the position in the ranking.
Tunisia need not to lose in the match against Tanzania to be sure of the 2nd place in Group C.
Group B gave its two qualified nationals. Egypt won the groupwith 7 points, while 2nd place was achieved by South Africawhich accumulated 6 points, having Siyabonga Ngezana, the defender of FCSB, in all 3 group matches: 2-1 with Angola, 0-1 with Egypt and 3-2 with Zimbabwe, the team led by the Romanian Mario Marinică.
Group A was won by Moroccowho beat Zambia in the last stage, 3-0, after 2-0 with Combos and 1-1 with Mali.
The other directly qualifying place was obtained by Maliwhich drew with the Comoros Islands, score 0-0, enough to finish in 2nd place.
The fight in group D is close, where after two stages Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo have 4 points each, and Benin 3. Senegal and Benin will face each other in the last stage, while the Democratic Republic of Congo will face Botswana, a team without a goal scored and without a point.
A similar situation occurs in group F, where Cameroon and Ivory Coast have 4 points each, and Mozambique 3. Cameroon will have a direct match with Mozambique, while Ivory Coast will meet the “red lantern” Gabon, the national team without a point obtained.
