Round of 16 - Angola v Namibia: Facts & Figures
Angola will take on neighbours Namibia in the Round of the 16 of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d'Iovire 2023 in Bouake on Saturday.
The Palancas Negras topped their group with seven points ahead of Burkina Faso and Mauritania will play the side that finished third in Group E behind Mali and South Africa.
Below are the match facts:
● This is only the second meeting between Angola and Namibia at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations; the other was a 3-3 draw in the 1998 group stages, a game in which Namibia were 2-0 and 3-1 ahead.
● Angola and Namibia haven’t met in any competition since a November 2015 friendly at the Estádio 11 de Novembro, won 1-0 by Angola.
● This is only Angola’s third ever match at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in the knockout stages – their other two were quarter-final defeats in 2008 (1-2 vs Egypt) and 2010 (0-1 vs Ghana).
● Namibia are featuring in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations knockout stages for the first time. They’ve only won one of their 12 group stage matches at AFCON (D3 L8), with that coming on MD1 this year against Tunisia.
● Angola have won two matches at the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, the first time they’ve ever won two games at one edition of AFCON and the first time they’ve won back-to-back games in the tournament. The six goals they netted in this year’s group stages were as many as they scored across the 2012, 2013 and 2019 tournaments combined (6 in 9 games).
● Namibia qualified for this year’s AFCON knockout stages as one of the four best third-place ranked teams; they scored just one goal and had a goal difference of -3, becoming only the seventh side to progress from a group despite netting just one goal.
● Only Tanzania (12) had fewer shots in the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations group stage than Namibia managed (22). Indeed, of the 16 qualified teams, only Mauritania (17) faced more shots on target in the group stage than Namibia did (14).
● In the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations group stage, Namibia completed the fewest passes (545) and were the only side with a passing accuracy lower than 70% across their three games (67.5%).
● Angola have had four different scorers at this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations (Mabululu, Gelson Dala, Gilberto, Zine), their joint most at a single edition along with 1998 (Lázaro Oliveira, Paulo Jorge Da Silva, Miguel Pereira & Quinzinho).
● Both Mabululu and Gelson Dala have two goals apiece for Angola at this year’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations. Only two players have ever netted three goals at one edition for Angola: Manucho (4 in 2008, 3 in 2012) and Flávio (3 in 2006, 3 in 2010).