Two Cosafa Teams Reach Knockout Stage at AFCON as Five Exit in Group Stage

Out of seven Cosafa representatives at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, only two have progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament as five teams have been shown the exit door.

South Africa have progressed as runners-up in Group B, which included Egypt, Angola, and Zimbabwe, while Mozambique reached the knockout stage after progressing as one of the four best third-placed teams, having finished third behind Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe Finish Bottom in Their Respective Groups

Three Cosafa region teams—Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe—had a tournament to forget after finishing as table anchors in their respective groups.

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Zambia headed to the tournament hoping to replicate their 2012 achievement, which saw them lift the trophy. However, facing Cameroon, Mali, and Comoros in the same group proved to be too much for them.

The Chipolopolo Boys bowed out of the tournament without a win in three games, scoring just once while conceding four goals.

Zambia opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Mali. They went behind early in the second half to Lassine Sinayoko’s strike, but Leicester City forward Patson Daka leveled matters late in the game.

That draw was followed by a frustrating 0-0 stalemate against Comoros in their second group stage match, which put their progression in doubt as they needed to avoid defeat against the hosts, Morocco.

The game against Morocco didn’t go well as they were brutally hammered 3-0, courtesy of a brace from Ayoub El Kaabi and one from Brahim Diaz.

Reacting after the match, Zambia coach Moses Sichone expressed his disappointment with the result.

“A hard day for us. This is not what we expected, but that’s how football is,” Sichone told a press conference. “Looking at how the game went on, I think we gave too much respect to Morocco, and also some players looked to be nervous.

“Like I said, we have a lot of young players, but also I must congratulate Morocco. They put in more pressure even when we tried to build from behind, and they also made the game more difficult.”

Sichone was also critical of Senegalese referee Issa Sy’s performance and accused him of showing bias towards the hosts.

“Also, the goals we conceded were just like a present, and looking at the way the referee officiated the game, I think I must say this is unacceptable. I am sure everyone saw how he officiated the game. My players were being given yellow cards, and he was just one-sided,” Sichone bemoaned.

Botswana’s Winless Tournament

Meanwhile, Botswana were the worst-performing team at the tournament as they finished without a point or a goal while shipping in seven goals on the other hand.

The Zebras opened the tournament with a humbling 3-0 defeat to African giants Senegal, as Nicolas Jackson scored a brace while Cherif Ndiaye added another.

Botswana were then beaten by Benin 1-0, courtesy of Yohan Roche’s 28th-minute goal.

They wrapped up their tournament with another heavy 3-0 defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Nathanael Mbuku and a brace from Gael Kakuta sealing their fate.

During the post-match press conference, the Zebras head coach Morena Ramoreboli admitted the gap between his team and others in the group.

“We were playing good teams, and obviously when we were preparing for this tournament, we knew that we had to do more to try our level best to make sure that we meet their quality. We needed to be honest with ourselves—we are playing teams which have a lot of players who are exposed to pressure. Obviously, for you to match their quality, you have to make sure that you try a couple of things which will help you defend well, though sometimes people will think that you could easily play an open game. But let’s be honest, we were playing against better teams.”

Zimbabwe’s Struggles Continue

Zimbabwe also finished bottom of Group B after losing twice and drawing once under former Flames coach Mario Marian Marinica.

They lost the opening game against Egypt 2-1. Prince Dube opened the scoring early in the game, but the Pharaohs pulled level in the second half through Omar Marmoush before Mohamed Salah won it deep in stoppage time.

Zimbabwe then played a 1-1 draw against Angola as they came from behind to snatch a point. Gelson Dala put Angola in front before Knowledge Musona leveled it up.

Zimbabwe finished their group stages with a pulsating 3-2 defeat to another Cosafa rival, South Africa, in a crucial game. Tshegofatso Mabasa put Bafana Bafana ahead, but Tawanda Maswanhise drew Zimbabwe level.

Lyle Foster put South Africa ahead again, but Zimbabwe leveled matters courtesy of Aubrey Modiba’s own goal. Oswin Appollis won it for South Africa.

Zimbabwe finished the tournament with one point, four goals scored, and six conceded. They have not progressed to the next round of the tournament since 2004 in six appearances.

Coach Mario Marian Marinica says Zimbabwe’s football needs a pathway, but this will demand patience and time.

“We need people to understand that even God didn’t build the world in one day, and sometimes you need to rest—the same thing will happen here. We cannot build something in 32 days, and on the other hand, you have to understand that we need a pathway and supporters to believe in their players, support them, not knock them down every time they make a mistake.

“We need to work together with the coaches and scouts to get the players and develop them at the club level rather than developing them at national teams. It has to be a holistic approach,” said the Romanian coach.

Other Cosafa Exits

Comoros were eliminated after finishing third in Group A, but their two points were not enough to qualify for the knockout stage. They scored zero goals and recorded two points after conceding two goals. They lost to Morocco 2-0 before playing goalless draws against Mali and Zambia.

Angola finished third in their group with two points, but this was not enough for them to qualify for the next round of the tournament. They scored two goals and conceded three. They lost 2-1 to South Africa before drawing 1-1 with Zimbabwe and 0-0 with Egypt.

Round of 16 Fixtures Confirmed: South Africa and Nigeria Handed Tests

Following the conclusion of Uganda vs Nigeria (1-3) and Tanzania vs Tunisia (1-1) on Tuesday, the identities of the 16 teams that made it to the knockout phase of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations were confirmed. However, the full match schedule wasn’t unveiled until Wednesday.

The ranking of the best third-placed teams is notorious for driving people crazy, with calculations constantly changing depending on probabilities and results.

Since Botswana (Group D), Equatorial Guinea (Group E), and Gabon (Group F) were eliminated even before the final matchday, it was only necessary to wait for the results of Uganda vs Nigeria and Tanzania vs Tunisia on Tuesday to know the full list of teams qualified for the round of 16.

After Uganda’s hopes of a miracle faded when they conceded to Nigeria in the 28th minute and then went down to 10 men in the second half, only two teams were left in contention for the final spot.

With his equalizer in the 48th minute for Tanzania against Tunisia, Feisal Salum ruled out any possibility of a drawing of lots with Angola. Thanks to having scored one more goal than the Palancas Negras, Tanzania secured qualification by holding on for a draw.

Only a win for the Carthage Eagles would have sent Angola through. The Taifa Stars held on until the end (1-1) to qualify for the first time in their history.

The full bracket was revealed after Wednesday’s final Group F fixtures.

AFCON Round of 16 Qualified Teams by Group

Group A: Morocco, Mali

Group B: Egypt, South Africa

Group C: Nigeria, Tunisia, Tanzania

Group D: Senegal, D.R. Congo, Benin

Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Sudan

Group F: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mozambique

Round of 16 Fixtures (All times CET)

Saturday, January 3rd

• Senegal vs Sudan – 17:00
• Mali vs Tunisia – 20:00

Sunday, January 4th

• Morocco vs Tanzania – 17:00
• South Africa vs Cameroon – 20:00

Monday, January 5th

• Egypt vs Benin – 17:00
• Nigeria vs Mozambique – 20:00

Tuesday, January 6th

• Algeria vs D.R. Congo – 17:00
• Ivory Coast vs Burkina Faso – 20:00