As Morocco’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 draws to a close, defending champions Ivory Coast became the last of the eight continental giants to establish a mouthwatering quarterfinal tie.
The round of 16 action featured a lot of it, from last-gasp winners to penalty shootouts and one-sided goal fests, but the teams will now be more closely matched as the best of African football ascends to the top.
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Everything you need to know about the quarterfinals is provided here:
Which teams are eligible to advance to the AFCON 2025 quarterfinals?
Eight of the top ten African nations have passed:
Senegal Mali Morocco Cameroon Egypt Nigeria Algeria Ivory Coast
Morocco, the host country, is one of the favorites to win the title at AFCON 2025. [Sebastien Bozon/AFP]
What time will the AFCON 2025 quarterfinals take place?
On Friday and Saturday, each team will play two games:
9-January
Mali vs Senegal at 5pm (16:00 GMT) – Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Cameroon vs Morocco at 8pm (19:00 GMT) – Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
10 January
Algeria vs Nigeria at 5pm (16:00 GMT) – Marrakesh Stadium, Marrakesh
Egypt vs Ivory Coast at 8pm (19:00 GMT) – Adrar Stadium, Agadir
Which teams will win the AFCON 2025 as favorites?
While Morocco, the tournament’s first-place finisher, and Ivory Coast, the country’s title rival, have come out on top with nearly faultless performances in all of their matches so far.
Algeria impressed because they are the only team with victories in all of their matches, and Mohamed Salah-led Egypt, a top-four African side, have also lived up to their reputation.
Egypt’s leader at the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 is Mohamed Salah. [Franck Fife/AFP]
Who were the top AFCON 2025 scorers?
Brahim Diaz from Morocco has four goals in as many games, while five other players have three each, according to the round 16 standings.
Brahim Diaz (Morocco): 4 Ademola Lookman (Nigeria), 3 Lassine Sinayoko (Mali): 3 Moroccan Ayoub El Kaabi: 3 Mohamed Salah (Egypt): 3 Riyad Mahrez (Algeria): 3 Victor Osimhen (Nigeria): 3
How can I follow the AFCON 2025 quarterfinals live?
Cameroon vs. Morocco and Algeria vs. Nigeria will be broadcast live on Al Jazeera Sport, along with a photo and text commentary stream.
In response to rising tensions over Taiwan, China has placed new export restrictions on Japan, causing Tokyo to criticize it.
In response to Japan’s “erroneous” and “egregious” statements about the self-governing island, which Beijing considers its territory, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it had banned so-called dual-use items with military applications.
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The Commerce Ministry stated in a statement on Tuesday that the ban would apply to all items that could “enhance Japan’s military capabilities” and was intended to “safeguard national security.”
Which goods would be prohibited was not stated in the notice.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement that it had demanded the measures be withdrawn after speaking out against China.
The Japanese Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, Shi Yong, informed the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau secretary-general Masaaki Kanai that the ban was “absolutely unacceptable,” deeply regrettable, and did not adhere to international law, as stated by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested late last year that Tokyo might use force to attack Taiwan, the two countries’ relations have long been at odds over historical and territorial issues.
In a statement to the parliament in November, Takaichi claimed that Japan would face a “survival-threatening situation” if China attacked Taiwan, which violated the nation’s constitution’s prohibition against hostilities.
Beijing, which has long pledged to unify Taiwan with the Chinese mainland, using force if necessary, was upset by the Japanese leader’s remarks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the “reunification” of China and Taiwan as unstoppable in his annual New Year’s address.
Xi made the remarks days after China’s military conducted live-fire exercises that looked like an island blockade.
Although Taiwan has not yet formally declared independence, its ruling Democratic Progressive Party considers the island to be de facto independent.
Taiwan elects its leaders, has its own military, passport, and currency, but it is not recognized by the majority of nations, including Japan.
In a major escalation that shocked Latin America over the weekend, the United States launched a massive military assault on Venezuela and kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro.
US President Donald Trump doubled down on Monday, threatening to intervene against the governments of Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico until they “get their act together.” He claimed he is protecting US interests in the Western Hemisphere and is fighting drug trafficking.
The remarks rekindle long-standing rifts between US and Latin American interests. Many of the countries Trump has targeted don’t want to see Washington involved, but their armed forces are unable to keep the US at bay.
On his way back from his Florida estate to Washington, DC on January 4, 2026, US President Donald Trump issued warnings to Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico.
Latin America’s military prowess
The US spends more on its military than the combined budgets of the next ten largest military spenders combined, making it the strongest country in the world. US defense budget was $895 billion in 2025, or 3.1 percent of GDP.
Brazil is ranked 11th globally in terms of the most powerful military in Latin America in the 2025 Global Firepower rankings.
Colombia is in the top 32nd place on the planet, followed by Venezuela in the top 50th place, and Cuba in the bottom 67th place. In all aspects, these nations’ military budgets, military budgets, military installations, combat tanks, naval assets, and other metrics significantly lower than the US military.
The US maintains a clear advantage in a conventional war with tanks, planes, and naval power.
These nations’ paramilitary forces, which coexist with the regular armed forces and frequently employ asymmetrical warfare and unconventional tactics against conventional military strategies, are the only distinguishing characteristic of these nations over the US.
(Al Jazeera)
Latin American paramilitaries are present.
Numerous Latin American nations have long histories of paramilitary and irregular armed organizations, which have frequently contributed to their internal security. Although typically armed, organized, and politically powerful, these organizations do not fall under the traditional military hierarchy.
According to Global Firepower, Cuba has the third-largest paramilitary force in the world, with more than 1.14 million members. State-controlled militias and neighborhood defense committees are among these organizations. The Territorial Troops Militia, the largest unit, is a civilian reserve designed to protect the regular army from external threats or internal crises.
Members of pro-government, armed civilian organizations known as “colectivos” have been accused of imposing political restraint and intimidating opponents in Venezuela. They are generally accepted to operate with state support or tolerance, especially during Maduro’s regime’s turbulent times, despite not being formally a part of the armed forces.
In Colombia, left-wing rebels were the target of right-wing paramilitary groups in the 1980s. Many of the demobilized organizations that were initially delisted in the middle of the 2000s later resurfaced as criminal or neo-paramilitary organizations, and remained active in rural areas. Following advice from US counterinsurgency advisers during the Cold War, the first groups were formed with the participation of Colombian military units.
In Mexico, heavily armed drug cartels essentially serve as paramilitary forces. The Zetas, an original military organization, are armed with military-grade weapons and operate territorial control, frequently outdoing local police and challenging the authority of the state. In response, Mexican law enforcement has become more and more frequently deployed.
US interference in Latin America has a history.
The US has repeatedly gotten into Latin America over the past two centuries.
The so-called Banana Wars saw US forces deploying across Central America to defend corporate interests in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The “Good Neighbor Policy” was introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934 and pledged non-intervention.
However, the US funded US-run operations to overthrow elected officials during the Cold War, which were frequently coordinated by the CIA.
A committee monitoring Israel’s year-long ceasefire with Hezbollah was scheduled to hold its next meeting the day before Israeli forces killed two people in southern Lebanon.
In an attack on a house in south Lebanon’s Kfar Dunin on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s NNA news agency, two people were killed.
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One of the Hezbollah operatives was identified as an “engineering terrorist in a structure that facilitated the organization’s reestablishment efforts,” according to a statement from the Israeli military.
The committee overseeing the ceasefire, which includes representatives from France, Israel, Lebanon, the United States, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), is getting ready for a meeting on Wednesday.
Since the ceasefire ended in November 2024, more than 300 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 127 civilians.
At least two people were killed earlier this week when Israeli forces bombarded several areas of Lebanon, and they also mandated the forced eviction of at least four villages in the country’s south and east.
According to a video that Al Jazeera and an AFP news agency verified, another overnight attack destroyed a multistory building in Ghaziyeh town, close to the coastal city of Sidon.
Despite Lebanon’s response to these efforts at various levels, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated earlier on Tuesday that “Israel’s continued attacks aim to thwart every efforts made locally, regionally, and internationally to stop the ongoing Israeli escalation.”
Following last week’s meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, security affairs analyst Ali Rizk from Beirut told Al Jazeera that the recent attacks are not surprising.
According to Rizk, “Israel has been given the green light to escalate against Hezbollah.”
“Difficult and hazardous circumstances”
Israeli attacks are continuing in close proximity to UNIFIL peacekeepers stationed along the Blue Line, which defines the de facto boundary between Israel, Lebanon, and the occupied Golan Heights, according to Stephane Dujarric, a UN secretary-general’s spokesperson, in a press conference in New York on Tuesday.
According to Dujarric, “We are aware that Israeli strikes were carried out late on Monday night in response to evacuation orders placed on targets that are reportedly linked to Hezbollah and Hamas.”
The strikes took place in southern Lebanon’s Lebanese territory, including in western Bekaa, north of the Litani River.
According to Dujarric, the UNIFIL peacekeepers reported Monday that they had “three air strikes in their areas of operation” and that there had been “several fighter aircraft activities above UNIFIL.”
Our peacekeepers also reported numerous direct fire incidents involving Israeli army positions south of the Blue Line, including one involving a Merkava tank fire close to Shab ‘a, and another involving a UN position close to Kfar Shouba, according to Dujarric.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Undersecretary-General for Peace Operations, told X that he had met with UNIFIL peacekeepers who were “accomplifying their mandated duties under increasingly difficult and dangerous circumstances.”
On Wednesday, Lacroix will meet with Lebanonese officials.
Lebanon’s cabinet will meet later this week to discuss the army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah, a move that was prompted by US pressure and concerns about increased Israeli airstrikes.
By the end of 2025, the army was supposed to finish disarmament south of the Litani River, which was located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Israel’s border, before taking action against the rest of the nation.
