As scheduled, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has rolled into January 2026, where the new continental champion will be determined at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on the 18th. After a colourful and eventful opening week, the tournament took clearer shape in its second week, as the group stage concluded with eight teams exiting and 16 advancing into the knockout phase, where the real chase for the trophy began.

AFCON 2025: Second Week on the Pitch

The round of 16 kicked off on Saturday with Senegal recovering from an early scare to beat Sudan 3–1, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition. A 10-man Mali side edged Tunisia on penalties to secure a quarter-final berth. Mali advanced to the last eight with no games won so far in the competition’s regulation time, while Tunisia’s decline deepened following another early exit, coming just two years after their group-stage ouster at AFCON 2023.

The knockout action continues on Sunday with hosts Morocco facing underdogs Tanzania, before South Africa will take on Cameroon for the heavyweight clash of the last 16. 

Earlier in the week, the continent’s top 12-ranked teams (11 of them former AFCON champions) all booked round of 16 spots. Benin, who have just one AFCON win in their history, and Mozambique, still chasing their first, will face favourites Egypt and Nigeria respectively in Monday’s round of 16 fixtures. Two-time champions Algeria and DR Congo will face off at the Moulay Hassan Stadium, after which defending champions Côte d’Ivoire will wrap up the round of 16 against Burkina Faso.

AFCON 2025: Second Week Off the Pitch

The second week of AFCON 2025 delivered more off the pitch.

Early in the week, Zambian defender Wilson Chisala grabbed headlines ahead of his side’s final group match by labelling hosts Morocco “overrated” and “beatable” during a training session. In an interesting turn, the Atlas Lions did their talking on the pitch, blowing Zambia away 3–0 to seal their exit from the tournament. Post-match, Chisala had little choice but to eat his words, acknowledging Morocco as one of the best teams on the continent.

Meanwhile, DR Congo has minted the most viral fan of AFCON 2025: Michel Kuka Mboladinga. Dressed smartly in a jacket and tie and bearing a striking resemblance to the country’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, Michel has stood motionless atop a makeshift podium at every Congo group match in tribute to the late politician assassinated in 1961.

However, it wasn’t until their final group game that Michel’s statue-like stance, mirroring Lumumba’s memorial in Kinshasa, struck a chord as fans sang and cheered DR Congo to a last-16 spot courtesy of a 3–0 win over Botswana on Tuesday at the Agdal Medina Stadium in Rabat. He’ll have at least one more chance to reprise the tribute when his country takes on Algeria on Tuesday.

More disturbingly, a series of controversies has trailed Gabon’s elimination from the tournament. After losing all three group matches and finishing bottom of their group, the Gabonese government suspended the national team, sacked head coach Thierry Mouyouma, and banned striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The 2015 African Footballer of the Year, who did not feature in Gabon’s final group game after returning to Marseille for treatment on a thigh injury, responded to the government’s interference on social media, saying, “I think the team’s problems are much deeper than the individual I am.”

Meanwhile, the Tunisian Football Federation has wasted no time in sacking head coach Sami Trabelsi following the Carthage Eagles’ loss to Tom Saintfiet’s 10-man Mali on Saturday.