Africa Cup of Nations news

As the Africa Cup of Nations heads into the knockout phase, AFP Sport looks at five stars of the group stage who will be hoping to make an impact in last-16 ties over the coming days.

The Comoros, the surprise package of the Africa Cup of Nations, are struggling to put a team together for their last-16 tie against host nation Cameroon after 12 players and management tested postive for Covid-19, their federation announced Saturday.

Nigeria won all three of their group games, and now the Super Eagles face a last-16 clash against a Tunisia side who have yet to impress.

Having benefited from playing under Steven Gerrard at Rangers, Joe Aribo is starring for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon as the Super Eagles target winning a fourth continental crown.

Underperforming Egypt and Senegal hope Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane can recapture their Premier League form when the Africa Cup of Nations enters the last-16 stage in Cameroon.

As the Africa Cup of Nations heads into the knockout stages, the reigning champions are heading home early to follow a pattern set at recent editions of the tournament.

Words are not enough to describe the fun and passion in their eyes as Nigerian refugee girls cheer on their side at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Massadio Haidara and Ibrahima Kone ensured Mali took top spot in their AFCON pool on Thursday.

An injury-time winner from Ablie Jallow gave Gambia a 1-0 win over Tunisia, but both are safely through to the AFCON round of 16.

Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi hit back at criticism of star man Riyad Mahrez but admitted his team would need to improve drastically to qualify for the World Cup after the reigning African champions were dumped out of the Cup of Nations on Thursday.

These two sides came into the game with both knowing a victory would assure them of a last-16 place at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang insists he is "absolutely fine" after the Gabon star was forced to leave the Africa Cup of Nations following a heart scare.

Algeria bowed out of the Africa Cup of Nations with a whimper after the defending champions were swept aside 3-1 by Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle on Wednesday railed against the state of the pitch in Douala where his team must face Algeria in a decisive final Africa Cup of Nations group match.