AFCON: Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire seal final quarterfinal spots
In the final two Round of 16 matches at AFCON 2025, Algeria and Côte D'Ivoire both sealed quarterfinal places. Catch up on the day's action with our recaps as we see how the stars of Ligue 1 McDonald's got on with their countries.
Côte d'Ivoire 3-0 Burkina Faso
With RC Strasbourg's Guéla Doué in defence again, Les Éléphants impressed from start to finish in Marrakech, picking up a 3-0 win over Burkina Faso. The defending champions started just one current Ligue 1 player, but Doué was joined by familiar faces like Ghislain Konan, Evann Guessand and Yahia Fofana. Burkina Faso featured two current Ligue 1 players in their eleven -- FC Lorient's Arsène Kouassi and Angers' Hervé Koffi.
As he has been all tournament, Manchester United winger Amad Diallo was at the heart of much of Côte d'Ivoire's attack, and after a driving run by Doué up the right flank, he pounced on a loose ball to put his side ahead from close range (20'). Twelve minutes later, Yan Diomandé doubled the lead as he mad a late run into the box unmarked, before youngster Bazoumana Touré rounded off the scoring three minutes from time. With the win, Côte d'Ivoire will face Egypt on Saturday in the final quarterfinal.
Aïssa Mandi & Chancel Mbemba 🇩🇿❤️🇨🇩 pic.twitter.com/8B0ojaewHN
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 6, 2026
Algeria 1-0 DR Congo (AET)
In the day's first match, two of the strongest defensive sides of the tournament -- Algeria and DR Congo -- squared off in a match featuring plenty of Ligue 1 McDonald's players -- including three from LOSC alone. In Rabat, Aïssa Mandi captained the Fennecs in defence, with Hicham Boudaoui (OGC Nice) also in the eleven. DR Congo were led by the veteran Chancel Mbemba, with his teenage club teammate Ngal'ayel Mukau starting in midfield and Le Havre's Lionel Mpasi in goal.
The match was a tense battle that reflected the organizational principles of both sides, with DR Congo looking the more likely as they played on the break, regularly testing Algeria 'keeper Luca Zidane. The match headed to extra time, and a deeper Algeria side grew into the match, with Mpasi twice making stunning saves in the second half of extra time, but he could do nothing about a stunning strike by Adil Boulbina (118'). With the win, Algeria will face Nigeria on Saturday with a place in the semifinals at stake.
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