AFCON 2019 knockout: Zaha strike qualifies Ivory Coast for date with Algeria

After twelve days of group stage action and two days of rest, the journey to African Cup of Nations, AFCON, glory resumes today in the land of the pyramids, Egypt.

The group stages coughed up lots of incidents from the goals, the misses, the blunders and the tactics. Not to forget the fans in the stands, the permutations as to who qualifies for the knockout not forgetting the empty stadia.

But with the group stage over, eight out of the 24 teams were eliminated whiles sixteen teams will in the next four days be whittled down to eight for the quarter finals.

Quarterfinal fixtures

• Senegal vs. Benin
• Nigeria vs. South Africa
• Algeria vs. Ivory Coast
• Madagascar vs. Winner (Ghana vs. Tunisia)

Yet-to-be played games slated for June 8. Ghana vs. Tunisia in Ismailia (final fixture of round of 16.

A Wilfred Zaha strike on the 76th minute was all the Elephants of ivory Coast needed to book their place in the quarterfinals of the AFCON. They eliminated Mali by the result.

They will now face Algeria who qualified for the last eight on Sunday after beating Guinea by three goals to nil.

Mali had overturned a first half possession dominance by the Ivorians but failed to convert their chances.

The final round-of-16 fixture pegs Ghana’s Black Stars against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in Ismailia. Winner of the game faces Madagascar in the last eight.