Are Ghana out of AFCON? Black Stars face early exit after poor group stage

Ghana’s hopes of reaching the AFCON knockout stage are hanging by a thread (Getty)

Ghana remain in with a chance of reaching the Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage but qualification for the last-16 is out of their hands.

The Black Stars were widely expected to progress comfortably from Group B but their 2-2 draw with Mozambique on Monday sees them finish third in the table behind second-placed Egypt and group winners Cape Verde.

All is not completely lost for Ghana as the best four teams who finish third in the the group stage will also reach the knockout phase.

But the Black Stars currently sit outside of the best third-placed teams and now need multiple results to go in their favour in order to progress.

Ghana will need Cameroon to draw with Gambia in their final game in Group C on Tuesday, and also require Zambia to lose to Morocco in their last match in Group F on Thursday. They also need DR Congo to beat Tanzania in their final fixture in Group F.

AFCON best third-placed teams table

Ivory Coast also face an anxious wait for the end of the group stage to see if they will progress to the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams.

The tournament hosts came under fire from their own supporters after they were hammered 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea in their final game in Group A on Monday.

TUESDAY

Gambia vs Cameroon (Group C)Guinea vs Senegal (Group C)Mauritania vs Algeria (Group D)Angola vs Burkina Faso (Group D)

WEDNESDAY

Namibia vs Mali (Group E)South Africa vs Tunisia (Group E)Zambia vs Morocco (Group F)Tanzania vs DR Congo (Group F)

Similar to Ghana, Ivory Coast need Cameroon to avoid a win against Gambia in Group C.

Ivory Coast will also progress if one of Namibia, Algeria and Zambia lose their final group matches.

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