On January 25, Beijing time, the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations was all over, and the teams that advanced to the round of 16 and the quarterfinals were all produced, namely:
Top half: Nigeria vs. Cameroon, Angola vs. Namibia, Cape Verde vs. Mauritania, Morocco vs. South Africa
Bottom half: Mali vs. Burkina Faso, Senegal vs. Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea vs. Guinea
1. Big upsets in the group stage: Tunisia, Algeria and Ghana
Tunisia are ranked 28th in the world and have a number of Europa League players in their squad, notably Eintracht Frankfurt's Hirry Frankfurt, Union Berlin's Ledouni and Lorient's Talebi. They scored only one goal in three group games, with two draws and one defeat and two points, and were eliminated at the bottom of the group.
Algeria are ranked 30th in the world and have many players who play in Europe's top five leagues, the most famous being Riyad Mahrez, who used to play for Manchester City, Bennacer who now plays for AC Milan, Shuaibi of Frankfurt, Oyar of Roma, Ait Noori of Wolves and other stars, but they played in three group games against Ping Angola and Burkina Faso, and in the final round they lost to 105th-ranked Mauritania, and finally eliminated from the bottom of the group.
Ghana, ranked 61st in the world, were also eliminated from the tournament with only two points from three games, although they included West Ham United's Kudus, Athletic Bilbao's Williams, Lyon's Nouma and Lens' Samed.
2. The biggest surprises of the group stage: Equatorial Guinea and Angola
Equatorial Guinea, ranked 88th in the world, finished top of the group with two wins and one draw against Nigeria and Ivory Coast, the last of which was a 4-0 win over Ivory Coast. Angola, ranked 117th in the world, are also unbeaten with two wins and one draw, drawing with Algeria and beating Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
3. The biggest highlight of the quarterfinals: Cameroon vs. Nigeria, Senegal vs. Côte d'Ivoire
All four teams have won the Africa Cup of Nations and have some of the best players playing in Europe, but Nigeria and Senegal are the stronger ones and deserve to be looked at.
The quarterfinals will officially start on January 28, Beijing time.