AFCON 2025: Premier League Stars, Fixtures, and Where to Watch

Algeria’s Dramatic Victory in Africa Cup of Nations

Adil Boulbina scored a dramatic winner in extra time for Algeria to beat Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 match on Tuesday. Boulbina’s goal came in the 119th minute, as he sent the ball into the top far corner of the goal from the edge of the penalty area, sending the majority of fans at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium into wild celebrations.

Later in the evening, defending champions Ivory Coast rounded off the round of 16 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Burkina Faso. Amad Diallo, who already had two goals for Ivory Coast, opened the scoring in the 20th minute when he received the ball from Yan Diomande on the edge of the penalty area and surged past two defenders before dinking the ball inside the top right corner. Diallo returned the favor 12 minutes later for Diomande to make it 2-0 with a low shot inside the left post, and Bazoumana Touré sealed the win on a counterattack in the 87th minute. Ivory Coast face Egypt in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Egypt’s Hard-Fought Victory Over Benin

Yasser Ibrahim’s superb header and Mohamed Salah’s breakaway strike earned record seven-times champions Egypt a hard-fought 3-1 extra-time victory over Benin in their Africa Cup of Nations round-of-16 match on Monday. Egypt led after 69 minutes through a superb 30-yard strike from Marwan Attia, but Benin forced the game into an additional 30 minutes when they equalised late on through Jodel Dossou. Defender Ibrahim scored his first international goal on 97 minutes when he met Attia’s cross with a header from 15 yards that looped into the top corner of the net, and Salah raced clear to add the third with the last kick of the game. Egypt next face the winners of Tuesday’s last-eight clash between defending champions Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. The quarter-final will be played in Agadir on Saturday.

Nigeria’s Dominant Performance Against Mozambique

In Monday’s other game, Ademola Lookman turned in a virtuoso performance as Victor Osimhen struck twice to lead Nigeria to a 4-0 victory over Mozambique. Nigeria’s dominance was near total as Lookman scored the opening goal and produced three assists to drive his side into the quarter-finals, where they will meet Algeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Akor Adams scored the other goal.

Africa Cup of Nations Fixtures and Results

Here are the latest fixtures and results:

Sunday, December 21
– Morocco 2 Comoros 0

Monday, December 22
– Mali 1 Zambia 1
– Egypt 2 Zimbabwe 1
– South Africa 2 Angola 1

Tuesday, December 23
– Nigeria 2 Tanzania 1
– Tunisia 3 Uganda 1
– Senegal 3 Botswana 0
– Democratic Republic of Congo 1 Benin 0

Wednesday, December 24
– Algeria 3 Sudan 0
– Burkina Faso 2 Equatorial Guinea 1
– Ivory Coast 1 Mozambique 0
– Cameroon 1 Gabon 0

Friday, December 26
– Egypt 1 South Africa 0
– Angola 1 Zimbabwe 1
– Zambia 0 Comoros 0
– Morocco 1 Mali 1

Saturday, December 27
– Benin 1 Botswana 0
– Senegal 1 DR Congo 1
– Uganda 1 Tanzania 1
– Nigeria 3 Tunisia 2

Sunday, December 28
– Gabon 2 Mozambique 3
– Equatorial Guinea 0 Sudan 1
– Algeria 1 Burkina Faso 0
– Ivory Coast 1 Cameroon 1

Monday, December 29
– Angola 0 Egypt 0
– Zimbabwe 2 South Africa 3
– Comoros 0 Mali 0
– Zambia 0 Morocco 3

Tuesday, December 30
– Tanzania 1 Tunisia 1
– Uganda 1 Nigeria 3
– Benin 0 Senegal 3
– Botswana 0 DR Congo 3

Wednesday, December 31
– Equatorial Guinea 1 Algeria 3
– Sudan 0 Burkina Faso 2
– Gabon 2 Ivory Coast 3
– Mozambique 1 Cameroon 2

Saturday, January 3
– Round of 16:
– Senegal 3 Sudan 1

Sunday, January 4
– Round of 16:
– Mali 1 Tunisia 1

Monday, January 5
– Round of 16:
– Egypt 3 Benin 1
– Nigeria 4 Mozambique 0

Tuesday, January 6
– Round of 16:
– Algeria 1 DR Congo 0
– Ivory Coast 3 Burkina Faso 0

Friday, January 9
– Quarter-final:
– Mali vs Senegal, 4pm
– Quarter-final:
– Cameroon vs Morocco, 7pm

Saturday, January 10
– Quarter-final:
– Algeria vs Nigeria, 4pm
– Quarter-final:
– Egypt vs Ivory Coast, 7pm

Wednesday, January 14
– Semi-final:
– TBC vs TBC, 5pm
– Semi-final:
– TBC vs TBC, 8pm

Saturday, January 17
– Third-place final:
– TBC vs TBC, 4pm

Sunday, January 18
– Final:
– TBC vs TBC, 7pm

How to Watch Matches at the Africa Cup of Nations

All matches are being broadcast in the UK on either Channel 4, 4seven, All 4 or Channel 4 Sport YouTube.

Premier League Players at Afcon

Arguably the biggest name in African football, Mohamed Salah has linked up with the Egypt squad after a turbulent few weeks with Liverpool. No other players have left Anfield for the tournament, giving the club a look at what life after Salah may be like.

Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush joins him with Egypt, having struggled for minutes after a knee injury in September. City will hope that Afcon can turn last season’s flashes of brilliance into consistent performances.

Some fanbases will be relieved not to lose key players. Newcastle United supporters will hope Yoane Wissa can kickstart his career on Tyneside after he was left out of DR Congo’s squad.

Antoine Semenyo’s Ghana did not qualify, allowing Bournemouth to keep hold of their top scorer but also clearing the way for immediate transfer business as the window opens. He will be in action against England at the World Cup.

However, Manchester United’s trio of Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui have joined Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Morocco, respectively.

Carlos Baleba, the only Brighton player to have appeared in every game across all competitions this season, joined Mbeumo with Cameroon. They arrive in extraordinary circumstances after Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, sacked manager Marc Brys over alleged “subterfuge”.

Sunderland lost six of their African players to Afcon. Ex-Atletico Madrid full-back, Reinildo Mandava will play in Mozambique’s opening game against an Ivory Coast side without Sunderland team-mate, Simon Adingra, after the winger was surprisingly left out.

Lyle Foster travelled with South Africa, leaving relegation-threatened Burnley, as did Tunisia’s Hannibal Mejbri.

Fulham lost three players to the Nigeria squad: Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze. The latter scored two goals in Fulham’s sensational nine-goal game against Manchester City earlier this month.

Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye are two of six Senegalese players in the Premier League, all of whom travelled in a squad boasting ex-Premier League names like Sadio Mané and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Sportify