"Two draws and one loss" team and "one goal with just one goal" team also made it to the round of 16... Africa Cup of Nations Scenic Views

*This content was translated by AI.

Neither the team that did not win a single game in the group stage nor the team that did not score a goal directly reached the round of 16 tournaments. It is a spectacular sight of the 2025 African Football Confederation (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations, which took place thanks to the widening of the way to advance to the tournament according to the performance comparison between the third-place teams in the group.

The Africa Cup of Nations, which is being held in Morocco, finished the group league schedule after Group E and Group F matches on the 1st (Korea Standard Time). The tournament, in which 24 teams participated, was divided into six groups of four teams. The top four teams with good performance among the first and second places in each group and the third place in the six groups were given a place to advance to the round of 16 tournaments.

As four of the six third-place teams as well as the first and second-place teams in each group can reach the tournament, teams with poor group performance also won the round of 16. Tanzania, ranked 130th in the FIFA rankings, reached the round of 16 with two draws and one loss (two points) without winning a single Group C match. Tanzania lost to Nigeria in the group stage earlier, and only gained two points because it could not compete with Uganda and Tunisia. Nevertheless, he was the fourth best among the third place in each group, and he was lucky to head to the round of 16 tournaments. It was the same with Angola, which is third in Group B, but was one goal ahead in multiple points.

Sudan (128th in FIFA ranking) made it to the round of 16 with only one own goal without a player who scored a direct goal. Sudan lost to Algeria 0-3 in Group E, won 1-0 against Equatorial Guinea, and then lost to Burkina Faso 0–2. Even the only match against Guinea won was 1-0 thanks to an opponent's own goal, not a Sudanese player. As a result, Sudan reached the round of 16 with three points, the third-best performance among the third-place teams in each group. It is the first time in the history of the tournament that a team that advanced to the round of 16 without a scorer has come out.

Benin, ranked 91st in FIFA, also lost to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal without a goal, but thanks to a 1-0 victory over Botswana, he reached the round of 16 with only one win and one goal in three group matches. Although he is not third in the group, Marley in Group A finished second in the group even after drawing all three games, resulting in a rare result of going straight to the round of 16.

International competitions, which have only advanced to the tournament for the first and second place in each group, have recently given them an opportunity to advance to the tournament by comparing their performances between the third place in each group. The 2026 FIFA North American World Cup, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, also increased the tournament to the round of 32, not the round of 16, as the number of participants expanded to 48 countries, not 32. Not only the first and second place in each group, but also the top eight teams with good performance among the third place in the 12 groups can reach the tournament. The possibility of a "lucky team" reaching the tournament despite poor group performance like this African Cup of Nations has also increased.

Meanwhile, the round of 16 matches at the Africa Cup of Nations were confirmed as matches between Mali-Tunisia, Senegal-Sudan, Egypt-Benin, Ivory Coast-Burkina Faso, South Africa-Cameroon, Morocco-Tanzania, Algeria-Congo Democratic Republic, and Nigeria-Mozambique. South Africa, which belongs to Group A of the World Cup finals against South Korea, beat Angola and Zimbabwe in Group B of the tournament, lost to Egypt, and reached the round of 16 as the second place in the group.

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*This content was translated by AI.