The Africa Cup of Nations has provided huge drama over the opening three days with shock upsets, late goals and more specifically Andre Onana and Cameroon’s nightmare. The drama doesn’t stop there though as Tuesday hosts another three games with the second game of Group D and the both games of Group E.
While none of the teams playing on Tuesday are coming into the tournament as favourites to go on and take the title, they will be wanting to put down a marker in their opening games as they look to announce their arrival to this year’s AFCON.
With three games taking place throughout the day, we’ve picked out our top tips and booking codes for the upcoming action:
Dango Ouattara to score anytime, 4.00
Burkina Faso vs Mauritania
Burkina Faso may have never won an international tournament, but the Stallions have certainly become outside favourites to win thanks to their performances in recent AFCON tournaments. Despite failing to qualify for the 2019 tournament, Burkina Faso have still managed to reach the semi-final or final in three of the last five AFCON tournaments and they’ll be looking for a statement win as they look to claim one of the qualifying spots in the group.
Mauritania on the other hand have appeared in all of the last three AFCON’s since 2019, but they are yet to make it out of the group stage or even record a win in any of these tournaments.
Dango Ouattara has emerged as one of Burkina Faso’s stars in recent times, with the forward now playing for Premier League outfit AFC Bournemouth. A goal in his last outing for his nation will set him in good stead for this tournament and we believe he will score in this one.
Tunisia to win, 1.38
Tunisia vs Namibia
Tunisia and Namibia get Group E of AFCON kicked off on Tuesday in a group that also contains South Africa and Mali.
Tunisia are sure favourites to finish top of Group E and they’ll be looking to finish top of the group as they hope to reach their fifth consecutive AFCON quarter-final, and potentially go even further this time around. With no losses in any of their last four games, taking three wins in this time, Tunisia come into the tournament in good form and this will give them the confidence they need in their opening game.
As for Namibia, this will be just their fourth appearance in any AFCON tournament having previously qualified in 1998, 2008 and 2019. However, they have never progressed out of the group stage and so a win in this one would provide them with the perfect start.
Tunisia are far the better team in this game and boast a greater side in both experience and overall ability. With this we expect that Tunisia will go on to win this game and start their tournament in the perfect way.
Mali to win, 1.98
Mali vs South Africa
Mali travel to Ivory Coast as one of AFCON’s household names with no other nation having played more games than Les Aigles without winning the tournament. Despite missing out on some players due to injuries, including Crystal Palace midfielder Cheick Doucoure, Mali take a strong side into the tournament with a squad made up of stars such as Yves Bissouma and Amadou Haidara. Coming into the tournament with no losses in their last seven and never having lost their opening AFCON fixture, Mali will be confident of securing all three points in this one.
South Africa on the other hand are returning to the tournament for the first time since their quarter-final loss in 2019. They come into the tournament in rather poor form though with just one win in their last five games across all competitions, and they’ll have to seriously improve against Mali if they are to get anything from their opening game.
While we expect this to be a tough encounter for both sides, Mali’s squad and form coming into the game makes them the superior side and we fancy them to take the victory.
Top Booking Codes: 62DTJMX, 62DTMCY
