After winning their respective groups, Ivory Coast and Ghana are on a crash course for a high-profile final at the African Cup of Nations, but there is still work to be done before the top two African nations do battle for the continent's top prize.
The Elephants, one of two sides to secure all nine points during the group stage, might have to go through both host countries to reach the final. Their quarterfinal matchup with Equatorial Guinea will present a challenge, and should they advance, they'd likely meet Gabon — the other nation to win all of its group games. Gabon is led by the tournament's Golden Boot front runner and St. Etienne striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has scored a goal in each of Gabon's three matches.
As for Ghana, the Black Stars' road to the final is a bit less bumpy and starts with a meeting against Tunisia before a potential semifinal against either Zambia or the surprising Sudan, which made the knockout round for the first time since 1970.
Here are the weekend's ACN quarterfinal matchups:
Saturday – Zambia vs. Sudan; Ivory Coast vs Equatorial Guinea
Sunday – Gabon vs. Mali; Ghana vs. Tunisia
Which teams do you see advancing to the semifinals? Do you think we'll get an Ivory Coast-Ghana final? Which nation do you think has the best chance of springing an upset?
Share your thoughts below.
Hahaha Paul’s ignorance just got annihilated by the whole comment section basically hahaha troll.
how humanitarian in your preferences you are Dimidri. I’m mexican, which means i’m gonna stereotypically root for my own and the rest of the world or any other concerns be damned…so its the spanish-speaking E.Guinea all the way. How about those EG women too in that last honey’s world cup? This is a solid tournament, with start times at 10 am on the west coast. EPL starts at 4am or 7am on Sat, so I could honestly not give a hoot about that. And anybody watching any soccer/futbol games on replay arent really fans.
1)Incredible level of parity/level of play amongst ‘lesser teams’. Senegal with Demba Ba and the like has zero points. Equatorial guinea, admittedly the host, has 6 with almost no native born star players.
2) Attacking, fun-minded soccer coupled with some sensational goals.
3)Poor pitch conditions often leading to hilarious encounters, one game had a pitch so water logged that player would run to a ball, overrun it, then get it since their defender overran it too.
4) Great teams, tournament setting, always produces excitement.
5) The storylines-Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, they had to have their government gain revenue to just be able to come here, their coaches bought supplies at local stores in E.G. In Botswana, nearly 1/4 people have HIV. In the Sahel region, changing climate patterns are decimating agriculture and increasing already prevalent drought and famine. Hard not to root for these people.
6) The next star.
who cares about the Gold Cup than? This tournament is the same thing…
I think Paul’s right – we should ban the occurrence of anything that we’re either not interested in or that doesn’t fit everyone’s viewing schedule. Let’s cancel all TV programming in Europe between 12AM and 7AM Eastern – we’re sleeping then. Oh, and the Apollo missions were a waste of time – wasn’t born yet.
Good point regarding the World Cup. Appreciate a non-flippant answer.
well ghana & ivory coast are superior teams than usa or mexico….meaning african soccer is stronger than concacaf…usa has actually played ghana last two world cups & lost so no need to talk down
Why care: We have about a 50% chance each World Cup to face an African team in the group stage and a decent chance to face one in the elimination rounds. Know thy enemy.
Why in January: It’s too hot in most of Africa to play during the summer; just like the MLS adapts its schedule to US temperatures, so too do African leagues and their regional competitions.
So go check out wikipedia for more information on the tournament. No need to troll on SBI. gtfoh.
Actually I stated an opinion and asked a question as to why I should care. I am open to understanding a bit more about the competition but it’s easier jut say troll and the equally moronic usage of +1. Great work!
+1 cares so little about it that he needed to comment with dumb s***
Troll hard, bro
I honestly don’t care a bit about this tournament. I can’t watch it, the US rarely plays African teams, and why it is in January during the season’s of all the major leagues is ridiculous. I would be glad to reconsider this if anyone has a reason as to why I should be interested outside of the love of soccer. There are just to many other soccer games I would rather watch than these.
any chance these are on tv? or the dreaded stream page?