Africa Cup of Nations: Round of 16 to kick off Friday

Host Egypt, Morocco and Algeria win their all games each in groups to be in last 16

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) – The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) host nation Egypt, Morocco and Algeria were the most successful teams in the group stages, having won all their matches in the tournament.

In group A, Egypt won their all games, while Uganda had 4 points as runners-up, and both nations advanced to the last 16.

DR Congo also qualified from Group A for the round of 16 as one of the four best third-place nations.

The tournament’s surprise team Madagascar tallied 7 points to top Group B.

Three-time AFCON winners Nigeria advanced into the last 16 as runners-up. Guinea moved into the knockout stage as one of the four best third-place nations.

In Group C, Algeria won their all games to have 9 points. In addition to Algeria, Senegal booked their place in the the last 16 as group runners-up with 6 points.

Separately Morocco won their all games to complete Group D as leaders.

Ivory Coast had 6 points and qualified for the last 16 with South Africa, one of the four best third-place nations in this competition.

Mali and Tunisia both advanced to the knockout stage from Group E.

In Group F, Ghana and Cameroon earned 5 points to be among the last 16 nations.

Ghana sat at first in this group by goal differences, scoring two more goals than Cameroon.

Benin bagged the last 16 ticket from the Group F as one of the four best third-place nations in Egypt 2019.

This year, in a major expansion, the tournament has expanded from 16 participating teams to 24.

The Round of 16 phase will begin with the match to be held between Morocco and Benin on July 5.

- Last 16 fixtures:

July 5 - Morocco vs Benin

July 5 - Uganda vs Senegal

July 6 - Nigeria vs Cameroon