After quite a knockout stage so far, four teams remain in the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco set to play in the semifinals on Wednesday. Morocco may have been among the favorites to win the tournament with it taking place in their home nation, but given the performances of others around them, this will be no cakewalk despite the hot form of Brahim Diaz, who has five goals in five games played to lead the way for the Golden Boot.
Morocco will be one of Africa’s representatives at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, alongside Senegal and Egypt, but for Nigeria, after failing to qualify for the World Cup, they’ll be throwing everything that they can at being cChampions of Africa. With four goals and two assists, Victor Osimhen is doing everything that he can to push Nigeria forward, along with the three goals and two assists that Ademola Lookman has provided too. Defensively, this side has some questions, but when it comes to going forward, there may not be a team on the continent that can beat them in a shootout.
Senegal vs. Egypt
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 12 p.m. ET (beIN Sports and Fubo)
This is more than just the Mohamed Salah team as Egypt prepare for their semifinal match, which will be a tough one. In fact, during the group stage, Egypt struggled to score at all, scoring only three goals during the group stage before breaking out to score six in the two knockout stage matches so far. Salah has four goals and one assist, but he has been closely followed by Omar Marmoush, who has two goals.
For Senegal, Salah’s former teammate Sadio Mane has been thriving as a creator with three assists, but it has been a very balanced attack with three players having scored two goals. Senegal have been among the most impressive teams at the tournament, with Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr helping balance the attack. In any given game, a new player can step up to win a match for Senegal, and they’ll need just that to win their first tournament since 2021. Egypt has to go back much further for when they last lifted this trophy in 2010, but it’s anyone’s guess who will come out of this tie.
Nigeria vs. Morocco
Wednesday, Jan 14, 3 p.m. ET (beIN Sports and Fubo)
It feels like the winner of AFCON will come out of this tie. Nigeria have felt unstoppable as they look to claim their first continental title since 2013, but Morocco are looking to ride home field advantage to their first title since 1976. Given their World Cup success in recent years, this doesn’t feel real, but Morocco are still looking to conquer their continent and have all the quality to do so. Diaz is doing everything he can to push the Atlas Lions to the top, and he’s gotten help from striker Ayoub El Kaabi’s three goals and an assist. Right back Achraf Hakimi has also returned from injury to push the squad forward. Morocco haven’t had a challenge that could stop them yet, but in facing Nigeria, that’s where things could change.
Given their talent, there are few sides who have been bigger disappointments globally than Nigeria after not qualifying for the World Cup. They have been on a mission to show that they’re a serious soccer side. Osimhen has been among the best strikers in the world for Galatasaray, and he hasn’t missed a beat during AFCON, leading the Super Eagles, but to get past Morocco, they’ll need everything to come together to near perfection.
