The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is currently taking place in Côte d’Ivoire. South African soccer fans felt elation and hope as Bafana Bafana beat neighbours Namibia 4 – 0 on Sunday, following a disappointing 2-0 loss to Mali in the opening fixture.
Out of the 24 participating teams, 16 will make it through to the next round. The top two teams from each of the six groups, as well as the four best third-placed teams of the groups will advance. For the third-placed teams – this is decided on points and on goal difference. ESPN explained that “Since the AFCON was expanded, no third-placed team has failed to advance with four points or more.” Since some third-placed teams can progress, it isn’t over for teams like Ghana or Côte d’Ivoire yet.
As of January 22nd, these five teams have already qualified for the next round: Cape Verde, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Egypt. Two teams have been eliminated so far: Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
The teams in Groups A and B have completed all of their matches, with groups C to F still to finish their matches. There is still a lot to play for, and Bafana Bafana is currently placed second on the log in Group E, with one more match in hand.
BBC reports that both Mali and South Africa are guaranteed a place in the last 16 if they win their deciding matches for the knockout stage on Wednesday, 24 January (17:00 GMT), when South Africa play Tunisia and Namibia face off against Mali.
In October 2023, team coach Hugo Broos appeared optimistic after the group draw took place and said that we was “not unhappy” with South Africa’s position in the group so far.
Fans will recall the glory of Bafana Bafana winning the Afcon in 1996 and remain optimistic about a positive result and advancement to the next round, which looks quite possible at this stage.
Why does this matter? In Bafana Bafana’s last Afcon appearance in 2019, they were eliminated by Nigeria in the quarter finals. This time – if the team continues on an upward trajectory, they could make it even further in the tournament.
Image accreditation: Andrew Moore on Flickr
