Which teams qualified for AFCON 2023 knockout rounds? List of nations in Round of 16 to semifinal, teams eliminated

Joe Wright

Which teams qualified for AFCON 2023 knockout rounds? List of nations in Round of 16 to semifinal, teams eliminated image

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16, which began on January 27, started the tournament's knockout phase.

Ivory Coast were left facing an anxious wait to see if they would contest the knockout phase, the host nation having been thrashed 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea to leave them in third place in the Group A standings. In the end, they scraped through as one of the best third-place finishers in the opening phase.

Cameroon also reached the knockout phase despite failing to impress during their opening three games, while Egypt scraped through by the skin of their teeth as the injured Mohamed Salah watched on.

Continental heavyweights Ghana, however, headed home early, with head coach Chris Hughton sacked after the Black Stars failed to qualify.

The Sporting News has an updated list on which teams have gone through, and which have been eliminated.

Which teams qualified for AFCON 2023 knockout rounds?

The following teams qualified for the knockout phase of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Team Group
Equatorial Guinea A (1st place)
Nigeria A (2nd place)
Ivory Coast A (3rd place)
Cape Verde B (1st place)
Egypt B (2nd place)
Senegal  C (1st place)
Cameroon C (2nd place)
Guinea C (3rd place
Angola D (1st place)
Burkina Faso D (2nd place)
Mauritania D (3rd place)
Mali E (1st place)
South Africa E (2nd place)
Namibia E (3rd place)
Morocco F (1st place)
DR Congo F (2nd place)

MORE: How the groups look at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

Teams eliminated from AFCON 2023

The following teams know they are now out of the Africa Cup of Nations 2023.

Team Stage reached
Guinea-Bissau Group A (4th place, 0 points)
Ghana Group B (3rd place, 2 points)
Mozambique Group B (4th place, 2 points)
Gambia Group C (4th place, 0 points)
Algeria Group D (4th place, 2 points)
Tunisia Group E (4th place, 2 points)
Zambia Group F (3rd place, 2 points)
Tanzania Group F (4th place, 2 points)
Namibia Round of 16 (eliminated by Angola)
Cameroon Round of 16 (eliminated by Nigeria)
Guinea Round of 16 (eliminated by Equatorial Guinea)
Egypt Round of 16 (eliminated by DR Congo)
Mauritania Round of 16 (eliminated by Cape Verde)
Senegal Round of 16 (eliminated by Ivory Coast)
Burkina Faso Round of 16 (eliminated by Mali)
Morocco Round of 16 (eliminated by South Africa)
Angola Quarterfinal (eliminated by Nigeria)
Guinea Quarterfinal (eliminated by DR Congo)
Mali Quarterfinal (eliminated by Ivory Coast)
Cape Verde Quarterfinal (eliminated by South Africa)
DR Congo Semifinal (eliminated by Ivory Coast)
South Africa Semifinal (eliminated by South Africa)

AFCON 2023 format and rules

There are 24 teams competing in this iteration of the Africa Cup of Nations, split into six groups of four.

With the knockout stages starting with a Round of 16 — and being one-off straight knockout ties — it means that, as well as the top two from each group, four of the best third-placed teams in the groups will also get a knockout spot.

In the event that two teams are locked on the same points, their placing will be determined on:

  1. Points in the head-to-head match between the two tied teams
  2. Goal difference in the group
  3. Goals scored overall in the group
  4. Drawing of lots.

In the knockout stages, games will go to 30 minutes of extra time and then penalties if the teams cannot be separated. There will also be a third-place playoff between the two losing semifinalists to determine who gets the bronze medal.

AFCON knockout stage schedule and fixtures

Round of 16 fixtures

Date Time (ET) Match
January 27 12 p.m. Angola 3-0 Namibia
January 27 3 p.m. Nigeria 2-0 Cameroon
January 28 12 p.m. Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Guinea
January 28 3 p.m. Egypt 1-1 (7-8 P) DR Congo
January 29 12 p.m. Cape Verde 1-0 Mauritania
January 29 3 p.m. Senegal 1-1 (4-5 P) Ivory Coast
January 30 12 p.m. Mali 2-1 Burkina Faso
January 30 3 p.m. Morocco 0-2 South Africa

Quarterfinals

Date Match
February 2 Nigeria 1-0 Angola
February 2 DR Congo 3-1 Guinea
February 3 Mali 1-2 Ivory Coast
February 3 Cape Verde 0-0 (1-2 P) South Africa

 Semifinals

Date Match
February 7 Nigeria 1-1 (4-2 P) South Africa
February 7 Ivory Coast 1-0 DR Congo

The third-place playoff, between the two losing semifinalists, will be held on February 10.

Final

The tournament concludes with the final in Abidjan on February 11.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.