The African Cup of Nations is out, Portugal fights hard to advance to the quarterfinals, 5 6 upset!
In the early hours of January 30, two more Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals came to an end. Angola, Nigeria, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all advanced to the round of 16, with Cabo Verde and Côte d'Ivoire joining forces at the end of the final round. The main favourites for the 5-6 Africa Cup of Nations are out, with six teams in the quarter-finals** and Portugal's opponents also close to winning the title.
In the first round of the knockout round, Cape Verde faced Mauritania. The two teams played hard, and until the final stage of the match, the score remained 0:0. Before stoppage time, a Mauritanian player made a mistake and gave Mauritania a big gift. Mauritania won a penalty and Mendes converted it to give Cape Verde a 1-0 finish.
In the other game of this round, Senegal missed a good chance. Just four minutes into the game, Sadio Mane passed the ball and Diallo scored in the penalty area to open the scoring for Senegal. After that, Senegal played somewhat conservatively and paid the price at the end of the second half. In the 86th minute, Ivorian Pepe converted a penalty on a counter-attack, and Kessie scored from close range to equalize for Ivory Coast.
At the end of extra time, both teams were scoreless and the game went to penalties. Senegal won five penalties, four of which were sent off, the third penalty, Niaket shot the post and all five of the Ivory Coast players hit the spot, and in the end Senegal went 4-5 and 5-6 on aggregate.
In the past two Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal team won 1 championship and 1 runner-up, in this Africa Cup of Nations, they won all 3 games in the group stage, and are the only team to get 9 points in the group stage, and the current Senegal team is ranked 20th in the world and 2nd in Africa under the leadership of stars such as Sadio Mane and Koulibaly. Although Ivory Coast is the host, they have won 1 and lost 2 in this year's group stage, the worst of the four groups that have advanced to the knockout stage, and are ranked 49th in the world. Even so, Senegal was knocked out of the tournament by Côte d'Ivoire.
With defending champions Senegal out, Morocco, who performed well at the last World Cup, are now the closest team to winning the Africa Cup of Nations. The Moroccan team, ranked 13th in the world, is the highest-ranked African national team. With Senegal less to block the title, Morocco's hopes of winning the title have been greatly enhanced. Morocco's first opponent in the knockout stage is South Africa, and if they advance, they will face Cape Verde, while potential opponents in the semi-finals are Nigeria or Angola. Do you think Morocco can win this time?