Our Guide to The AFCON Quarter-Finals

Our Guide to the AFCON Quarter-Finals

We’ve reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, and there’s been no shortage of drama or controversy. As with any other major international tournament, the shock results keep coming thick and fast, and the last-eight ties take place this weekend.

Freebets have been mulling over the matches, so check out our previews below. It will also contain some useful tips if you’re wondering what to include on your betting slip.

How to watch AFCON 2022?

The BBC will broadcast 10 games, while Sky Sports will show every match from Cameroon. For those living abroad, coverage will be split across three channels – beIN, Canal+ and SuperSport.

Mohamed Salah puts the wind in Egypt’s sails

By his extremely high standards, it has been a quiet AFCON for Mohamed Salah. The Liverpool talisman has failed to set the tournament alight, although when it mattered most, he stood up to the mark.

Egypt were taken to extra-time by Ivory Coast in a game that was packed with intensity, and plenty of chances, although matters were settled via a penalty shoot-out. Salah converted the winning penalty to send his side through to the last-eight of the competition, and perhaps from now on in, we could see the best of him. Maybe the elation of a penalty shoot-out win will spur Salah to new heights with his country.

Yet, Egypt will face a stiff examination from Morocco, who have arguably been one of the teams of the tournament, and they will pose some serious questions. Morocco are at a short 6/4 to knock out Egypt with bet365, and the same bookmaker is also serving up a tasty price of 4/1 for the first goal to be scored in the opening 10 minutes of the match.

Cameroon eager to continue fine run

Naturally, the hosts usually garner a lot of attention. In this case, Cameroon have had to dig deep at times. Against Comoros in the last-16, Cameroon were forced to grind it out, but they prevailed 2-1 to safeguard their progress in the competition.

However, with Vincent Aboubakar in your ranks, anything is possible. Aboubakar has been the sharpest shooter to date, and leads the goalscoring with six goals to his name. And he will relish helping try to move Cameroon one step closer to another AFCON title – their last triumph was in 2017.

Cameroon will be confident of taking out Gambia, with the latter making their debut in the tournament. Gambia have gone about their business quietly, but they are at a long looking 7/1 with William Hill to secure a semi-final berth.

Burkina Faso keep on dreaming

If you are in the Burkina Faso camp, you will be hoping that AFCON never ends! Although they started the tournament with a 2-1 defeat against Cameroon, they knocked out Gabon via a penalty shoot-out, although you imagine how much that will take out of them.

Next up for Burkina Faso are Tunisia, and they were quite fortunate to get through, as they lost two of their three group matches before scraping past Nigeria. Although the bookies are pointing to a Tunisia win, Burkina Faso are 23/10 with Paddy Power to win the tie, and this price shouldn’t be scoffed at!

Sadio Mane hoping to fire Senegal into semi-finals

Sadio Mane had a bit of a concussion scare earlier this week after a clash of heads with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, and after being allowed to stay on the pitch for a few minutes to carry on playing, he was later stretchered off, and taken to hospital. However, Mane is expected to return to face Equatorial Guinea, and his pace will give them problems.

Should he start, Mane will be eager to get stuck into his country’s quarter-final opponents, and while Senegal are overwhelming favourites to progress, Equatorial Guinea’s best price to advance to the semi-finals is at 13/2 with Paddy Power, which could be an interesting punt.

AFCON quarter-final ties (kick-offs in full)

Below is the full list of the quarter-final ties, along with dates and kick-off times, as well as the odds that have been supplied by bet365. All times are stated in GMT:

Gambia (6/1) v Cameroon (11/20) Saturday, January 29, 4 pm

Burkina Faso (5/2) v Tunisia (11/8) Saturday, January 29, 7 pm

Egypt (12/5) v Morocco (6/4), Sunday, January 30, 4 pm

Senegal (4/7) v Equatorial Guinea (7/1), Sunday, January 30, 7 pm