The casting is known. While six matches still remain to be played before completing the group stage, 16 nations are already certain to continue the adventure and participate in the round of 16 of CAN 2025.
The conclusion of Group C put an end to the suspense this Tuesday evening: by not losing to Tanzania in Rabat (1-1), Tunisia validated its ticket for the direct elimination matches, joining Nigeria, already qualified and sure of being first before its victory against Uganda (1-3). The Cranes, dominated by Victor Osimhen’s squad, occupy fourth place in their group, while the Tanzanians achieved the feat of placing themselves among the four best thirds qualified for the 8th thanks to their draw.
A nightmare scenario for Angola. Patrice Beaumelle’s men needed a defeat for Tanzania and a victory or draw for Nigeria to grab the last best third place still available. The Palancas Negras are therefore definitively eliminated.
The 16 teams qualified for the round of 16:
- Morocco
- Mali
- Egypt
- South Africa
- Nigeria
- Tunisia
- Tanzania
- Senegal
- RD Congo
- Benign
- Algeria
- Burkina Faso
- Sudan
- Cameroon
- Ivory Coast
- Mozambique
All the favorites here
Note that the twelve nations which made up pot 1 (Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast) and pot 2 (Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, Burkina Faso) at the time of the draw for the competition on January 27, 2025 held their place during this first round and will be there for the final matches in 2026.
On the other hand, the adventure is already over for the Comoros. With two points like Angola, the Coelacanths were betrayed by their negative goal difference (-2 against -1) and finished sixth in the ranking of the best thirds.
The 8 teams eliminated after the group stage:
- Comoros
- Zambia
- Angola
- Zimbabwe
- Uganda
- Botswana
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
Myziane Maolida and her partners are one of the eight countries eliminated in the group stage. Five of them were in Pot 4 at the time of the draw. Only Mozambique managed to defy logic by finishing ahead of Gabon, dead last in Group F.
If all the teams invited to the round of 16 are therefore known, we will nevertheless have to wait until Wednesday evening to establish the precise schedule of matches. Indeed, among the three groups still open (D, E and F), only Algeria is guaranteed to finish first. We will therefore have to wait for the last matches to define the precise ranking of the teams still in the running and therefore their placement in the final table.
