The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations drama continued to unfold on Tuesday night and with the group stages action culminating on Wednesday a lot is still to be offered with giants Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa all looking to seal a place in the next round of the Africa’s premier competition.Group E Namibia vs MaliThe Eagles of Mali will look to secure the top spot when they lock horns with Namibia at Stade Laurent Pokou on Wednesday at 8 PM EAT.As the only undefeated team in the group after the first two matches, Mali leads Group E with four points, while Namibia are still well in contention for a spot in the last 16, currently level with second-placed South Africa on three points.Regardless of the outcome of this match, Namibia will look back at this tournament with fond memories when all is said and done, as it has been a historic one for The Brave Warriors. Under the guidance of Collin Benjamin, Namibia pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the competition on matchday one when they claimed a historic first victory against the heavily fancied Tunisians before succumbing to South Africa.Nevertheless, that matchday one victory marked not only their first win against The Carthage Eagles but also their first-ever win at an Africa Cup of Nations, and they will now look to achieve another milestone by making it to the knockout phase.For Mali, in their last eight AFCON tournaments, The Eagles have been sent packing from group stages on four occasions, while in the last two tournaments, they were eliminated in the Round of 16.However, based on their performances this year, Eric Chelle’s charges need just a draw or better and will be full of confidence in getting the result they need, having beaten this opponent in four of their six encounters while only losing once.##NAJAVA_MECA_7821933##South Africa vs TunisiaSouth Africa are in for a tougher outing when they face a Tunisian side that is desperate for their first Group E victory in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations when the duo clash at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium with the match playing concurrently with the Namibia VS Mali match up at 8PM EAT.The South Africans bounced back from their 2-0 loss to Mali in style with their high-scoring match over Namibia on Sunday, while Tunisia on the other hand, who suffered a 1-0 shock defeat to Namibia in their opening game, played out to a 1-1 draw against Mali.Both sides will be aiming for nothing less than a victory with Tunisia standing an outside chance of qualification with a point to their name, while Bafana Bafana are second behind leaders, Mali.Ahead of the match, the Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos said they will fight till the last second to deliver knock-out football to South Africans.“Our first goal was to achieve the second round and pass the group stages. Our opponent has a slight advantage since they have had a day more to prepare. However, after Sunday’s big victory, we have a boost of energy. The team will be ready. We know Tunisia is a great team. I think they underestimated Namibia, the match against Mali is what we will analyze. We will fight every second for a good result,” he told CAF online.His Tunisia counterpart Jalel Kadri highlighted that only hard work can salvage his side from the recent situation and seal a place in the next round of the Africa Cup of Nations.“We know people are expecting a lot from us. We are in a difficult group and need to play well to succeed. We have to start with a high concentration in the match. We have several players with experience, but we still need to work hard to get the victory.”AFCON 2023: Mauritania’s historical win eliminates Algeria from the competition
Group F Tanzania vs DR Congo A place in the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations is on the line as Tanzania faces DR Congo at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium on Wednesday at 11 PM EAT.With simultaneous kick-offs across Group F, the Leopards, on two points from their first two games, eye a win to stay in the driver’s seat, while the Taifa Stars face elimination if they fall short of a win. Dismissed the group whipping boys, Taifa Stars have defied the odds to head into the final match of the match still in contention for a place in the knockout phase.Taifa Stars striker and captain Mbwana Samatta expects a tough outing against the two-time AFCON winners and admits that they will need to be at their best to get a win.“All the teams are difficult. Looking at the levels of both teams, we can never look down on DRC and think it will be easier than Morocco or Zambia. It is not an advantage playing against them in the last fixture. They will not be easily beaten, if anything, they will be even harder to beat.”Sebastien Desabre – DR Congo Coach had this to say about the match:“We intend to give our best. The pitch is slightly different, but we have to continue. We are confident and concentrated on the task. We playing to win and we must win. We need the victory, and we also want to qualify because that is very important. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation of making calculations. We want to win and gain automatic qualification because anything less than that puts our fate outside of our hands.”AFCON 2023: Cameroon advances to round of 16 as Senegal secures top spot in Group CZambia vs Morocco The Stade de San Pedro prepares to host a drama-laden finale to Group F in the Africa Cup of Nations as Zambia takes on Morocco at 11 PM. The Atlas Lions and the Chipolopolo lock horns in a clash where qualification for the round of 16 hangs in the balance.Back in the AFCON after missing in the last three editions, Zambia are still chasing their first win this term after their improbable run in 2012. Two opening draws by an identical 1-1 score line have stalled Chipolopolo’s roar and have a herculean task when they squire out with one of the tournament’s favorites.Failure to secure victory could see Zambia eliminated at the group stage for the third consecutive AFCON. However, the historical odds are stacked against them, having beaten Morocco only once in six meetings, losing three times and drawing twice.AFCON 2023- GROUP STAGERound 3Monday Ivory Coast – Equatorial Guinea 0-4 (0-1)/Nsue 45, 57, Ganet 73, Buyla 88/Nigeria – Guinea Bissau 1-0 (1-0)/Sangante 36/Cape Verde – Egypt 2-2 (1-0)/Benchimol 45+1, Texeira 90+9 – Trezeguet 50, Mohamed 90+3/Mozambique – Ghana 2-2 (0-1)/Catamo 90+1 pen, Mandava 90+4 – J Ayew 15 pen, 67 pen/TuesdayGuinea 0 Senegal 2 /Seck 61, Ndiaye 90/Gambia 2 Cameroon 3 /Jallow 72, E. Colley 85 – Toko Ekambi 56, Gomez 87-og, Wooh 90+1/Mauritania – Algeria 1-0 (1-0)/Yali 37/Angola – Burkina Faso 1-0 (1-0)/Mabululu 36/Wednesday20.00: (7.00) Namibia (3.60) Mali (1.58)20.00: (3.40) S.Africa (3.10) Tunisia (2.30)23.00: (6.50) Zambia (3.80) Morocco (1.58)23.00: (6.00) Tanzania (3.70) Dr Congo (1.62)***odds are subject to change