The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) last 16 fixtures have officially been confirmed after matchday three of the group stages concluded on Wednesday night.
Bafana Bafana will collide with Cameroon for a spot in the quarterfinals at the Agdal Medina Stadium in Rabat on Sunday night. Kickoff is at 9pm.
Advanced as runners-up
Both Bafana and Cameroon advanced to the next round of the competition as runners-up of Group B and F, respectively. Cameroon wrapped up their final group stage match with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Mozambique in Agadir.
It is worth mentioning that this scintillating and blockbuster fixture will also be a bittersweet moment for current Bafana coach Hugo Broos.
The Belgian tactician led the Indomitable Lions to Afcon glory in 2017, which became their fifth title.
Improvement necessary
After Bafana did not have the best performance in the group stages, with several glaring individual errors proving to be costly in the last three matches, Broos will expect his side to improve, especially if they are to go further in the competition.
“We must learn to have concentration because it is either the Ivory Coast or Cameroon in the next round,” Broos said after their unconvincing 3-2 win over Zimbabwe.
“And we can’t play like that against them. If we do that, we have no chance to win that game.”
“This is something I am worried about because it happened again in this game and against Angola. Even in the first half against Egypt, we were soft and weak. We were not determined in duels, and there was no aggression.”
Bafana will, though, head into the match with a slight edge, having won three of their last games against Cameroon, suffering one defeat, and drawing the other game.
The winner between Bafana and Cameroon will then have to face either Morocco or Tanzania in the quarterfinals next Friday.
Afcon Last 16 Fixtures:
- Mali vs Tunisia
- Senegal vs Sudan
- Egypt vs Benin
- Ivory Coast vs Burkina Faso
- South Africa vs Cameroon
- Morocco vs Tanzania
- Algeria vs DR Congo
- Nigeria vs Mozambique
