{"id":1821,"date":"2026-01-04T03:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1821\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T03:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:20:10","slug":"senegal-and-congo-get-big-wins-at-africa-cup-while-tanzania-and-tunisia-squeeze-into-knockout-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1821\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal and Congo get big wins at Africa Cup while Tanzania and Tunisia squeeze into knockout stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

RABAT, Morocco (AP) \u2014 Senegal and Congo served notice of their intent with convincing wins at the Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday, when Tanzania and Tunisia grabbed the last places in the knockout stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senegal, the 2021 champion, survived Kalidou Koulibaly\u2019s sending off on his 100th appearance<\/a> for the team by routing Benin 3-0 in Group D in Tangier. Congo finished second in the group on goal difference with a 3-0 win over already eliminated Botswana in Rabat.<\/p>\n

Senegal, Congo and Benin were already assured of their places in the last 16.<\/p>\n

But Tanzania and Tunisia were not. They progressed from Group C by playing out a 1-1 draw that eliminated Angola. <\/p>\n

Taifa Stars survive<\/p>\n

Feisal Salum\u2019s goal for Tanzania, which canceled out Isma\u00ebl Gharbi\u2019s penalty, sent the Taifa Stars to the last 16 as one of the six groups\u2019 best third-place finishers.<\/p>\n

Angola, which finished third in Group B, had been hoping for a favor from Tunisia to beat Tanzania and another from Nigeria, which complied by defeating Uganda 3-1.<\/p>\n

But Tanzania\u2019s goal proved the difference. Both Tanzania and Angola finished with two points and a goal difference of minus 1. Salum\u2019s goal meant the Taifa Stars had scored more in the group stage (Tanzania\u2019s three goals vs. Angola\u2019s two), meaning they go through to the next round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this will be a reminder to these players and the next generation of players on the potential of Tanzanian football,\u201d Taifa Stars coach Miguel Gamondi said. <\/p>\n

Tunisia advances as Group C runner-up, but it wasn\u2019t enough to appease its fans, who whistled the team after supporting it in the rain in Rabat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may not have played the best way possible, but we are very happy to have qualified,\u201d Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi said.<\/p>\n

Three goalkeepers for Uganda<\/p>\n

With his team already assured of top spot, Nigeria coach Eric Chelle opted to rest many of his regulars including Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Bright Osayi-Samuel. Victor Osimhen played from the start.<\/p>\n

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru crossed for Paul Onuachu to score with a simple finish in the 28th, and Uganda\u2019s slim hopes were effectively ended early in the second half. Goalkeeper Denis Onyango was unable to resume after the break, and his replacement Salim Magoola was sent off in the 50th for handling the ball outside the penalty area. Magoola couldn\u2019t resist stopping a shot from Osimhen.<\/p>\n

Uganda\u2019s third-choice goalkeeper Nafian Alionzi soon conceded when Raphael Onyedika shot the ball between his legs for 2-0 in the 62nd, five minutes before Onyedika got another goal.<\/p>\n

Rogers Mato restored some Ugandan pride in the 75th with a fine chip over Francis Uzoho in the Nigeria goal.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Senegal\u2019s big win over Benin ensured it will stay in Tangier for its first knockout game on Saturday against a third-place finisher from Groups B, E or F. <\/p>\n

But the 2021 champion will be without the suspended Koulibaly. <\/p>\n

Senegal coach Pape Thiaw warned his team will have \u201cno room for errors\u201d in the knockout stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will use the next few days to address these problems,\u201d Thiaw said.<\/p>\n

Nigeria will stay in Fez for a game against a third-place finisher on Jan. 5.<\/p>\n

Congo next faces Algeria in Rabat on Jan. 6. The Leopards can get a good look at their opponents Wednesday, when Algeria plays Equatorial Guinea in their final group game. <\/p>\n

Tunisia will play Mali in Casablanca on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Benin and the other third-place finishers will face matches against group winners.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP at the Africa Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/africa-cup-of-nations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RABAT, Morocco (AP) \u2014 Senegal and Congo served notice of their intent with convincing wins at the Africa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[126,146,1871,1870,548,1873,1539,550,1867,129,1868,1869,1872,159,323,264,152,174,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tanzania","8":"tag-ademola-lookman","9":"tag-africa-cup-of-nations","10":"tag-alex-iwobi","11":"tag-denis-onyango","12":"tag-eric-chelle","13":"tag-francis-uzoho","14":"tag-kalidou-koulibaly","15":"tag-miguel-gamondi","16":"tag-paul-onuachu","17":"tag-raphael-onyedika","18":"tag-republic-of-the-congo","19":"tag-salim-magoola","20":"tag-sami-trabelsi","21":"tag-senegal","22":"tag-soccer","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-tanzania","25":"tag-tunisia","26":"tag-victor-osimhen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}