Our prediction for this Africa Cup of Nations 2024 match:
Nigeria
Match Time & Date:
27/01/2024
12:00 PM
Prediction: 1-0
Cameroon
All eyes will be on Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny when Nigeria and Cameroon lock horns in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16. The Super Eagles aim to build on back-to-back wins over Ivory Coast (1-0) and Guinea Bissau (1-0) and they are likely to rely on their rock-solid defence in Saturday’s showdown. Everton winger Alex Iwobi is widely expected to return to the starting XI as well as Atalanta ace Ademola Lookman after the duo was rested in the last group game.
The Indomitable Lions, on the other hand, set up a meeting with Nigeria by beating Gambia in a thriller. Barring any fresh injury worries, Rigobert Song is unlikely to make changes to the team that defeated the Scorpions in the last group game. Anyhow, home win should be considered as Nigeria seem to be more of a team than Cameroon, who were more than fortunate to sneak into the AFCON knockout stages.
Highlighted Player (Karl Toko-Ekambi):
Karl Toko Ekambi is a professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Angers as a striker. Ekambi was born in Paris on September 14 1992, but he does not represent les Tricolores on the international stage. The 183-cm-tall attacker plays for Cameroon and it has to be noted that he made his senior debut for les Lions Indomptables in a 3-2 win over Burkina Faso back in June, 2015.
Ekambi came as a substitute in the 77th minute of the match, replacing fellow attacker Mengolo. The Cameroonian footballer played for Paris FC during his youth career and he made his first-team debut for the capital club on April 26, 2011 in a 2-2 draw with Beauvais. Karl Toko Ekambi scored 21 goals in 66 appearances for Paris from 2010 to 2014 and at the end of the 2013/2014 season he joined Sochaux.
After netting 25 goals in 72 appearances for the club, in the summer of 2016 Ekambi signed a contract with Angers which expires on June 30, 2020.
Highlighted Team (Nigeria):
Nigeria is an African national football team controlled by Nigeria Football Federation. The Super Eagles are well known for their green and white kits, but they played some descent football in the past as well. The Nigerians did well to qualify for six of last seven World Cup finals (as of 2018), with the team reaching the last six of the showpiece tournament three times.
Jay-Jay Okocha, Taribo West and Nwankwo Kanu are the most famous footballers that played for Nigeria. The Super Eagles played their first official match back in October 1949 while still a Brittish colony and it has to be noted that they were ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings in April 1994, which remains the highest FIFA ranking position ever achieved by a national team from Africa.
Speaking of the African Cup of Nations, Nigeria won the tournament on three occasions: 1980, 1994 and 2013, with the team finishing as runners-up in 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000.
