Betting Guides

A Fool's Guide to AFCON 2026; What's Happened, What's to Come and What to Bet On

AFCON 2026 has been nothing short of entertaining this year - feisty fixtures, goals galore and even fans flirting!

Here we'll take a look at what's happened so far, what's to come and what bets we will be backing along the way. So strap yourself in and come along for the ride...

What's happened so far?

There were 24 teams competing, comprised of six groups of four with the top two teams from each group progressing. Of course, 12 teams doesn't work for a knockout format, so the four best third placed teams also progressed.

Only two teams won all three of their group stage games - Algeria and Nigeria, two of the favourites. Morocco and Senegal also breezed through the group stages with seven points each.

Group F - tagged beforehand as the group of death - provided some much needed drama on the final day of group games. Ivory Coast were sat top on four points, and needed just a draw to progress. They beat Gabon 3-2 to stay top. This left Cameroon and Mozambique fighting for that final spot, where Cameroon came out 2-1 victorious in a tight affair, Luckily for Mozambique, they still progressed as the best third placed team.

We now find ourselves in the Quarter-Finals, with eight teams leaving us in the last 16. There were no shock results, but the standout outcome was Nigeria's 4-0 demolition of Mozambique. Ivory Coast also cruised through with a 3-0 whitewash against Burkina Faso with Manchester United's Amad leading the way again, picking up his third goal of the tournament.

So who makes up the last eight? Well, Cameroon take on Morocco, Algeria will take on Nigeria and on the other side of the draw we will see Senegal face off against Mali and Egypt against Ivory Coast.

Golden Boot Race

The Golden Boot race is hotting up at AFCON 2026 with Morocco's Brahim Diaz leading with four goals. This is not a one horse race, with seven other players sat on three and all still present in the tournament. So who is the favourite and what are the odds?

Golden Boot Odds

Brahim Diaz 2/1 - (4 goals)
Ayoub El Kaabi 7/2 - (3 goals)
Mohamed Salah 9/2 - (3 goals) -Victor Osimhen 9/2- (3 goals)
Ademola Lookman 5/1- (3 goals)
Riyad Mahrez 6/1- (3 goals)
Amad Diallo 8/1- (3 goals)

All odds courtesy of TalkSPORT Bet (12:09pm on 07/01/26)

🚨⚽️ | 𝐍𝐄𝐖: The AFCON 2025 Golden Boot Race:

🇲🇦 Brahim Diaz - 4
🇳🇬 Ademola Lookman - 3
🇨🇮 Amad Diallo - 3
🇳🇬 Victor Osimhen - 3
🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah - 3
🇩🇿 Riyad Mahrez - 3

The race is heating up.. 🤩🔥 pic.twitter.com/fjebimeaaW
— MatchdayHQ (@TheMatchdayHQ) January 7, 2026

Player of the Tournament?

There have been some outstanding individual performances so far in competition, with likes of Salah, Amad and Osimhen all guiding their teams to the very top. But who has really shone for their side and made their deep run into the tournament possible?

Brahim Diaz- Morocco Diaz has netted four goals for Morocco so far and leads the way in the golden boot race. This is his first appearance at AFCON and he's taken it by storm with fans chanting his name constantly as he performs at the highest level for his country.

🚨🇲🇦 Brahim Díaz becomes the first player in Morocco’s history to score 4 goals in a single AFCON run. pic.twitter.com/bCpZc8fY22
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 4, 2026

Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman - Nigeria Chukwueze has netted two goals and four assists so far this tournament while Lookman has three goals and four assists. Both players have been unstoppable for Nigeria and show no signs of stopping - are they the favourites?

Mohamed Salah - Egypt With all the talk surrounding Salah and his future, the Egyptian has shown that he is still one of the best players in the world by netting three goals and taking Egypt to the last eight, where they face the Ivory Coast.

Who are the favourites to win AFCON?

Well with eight teams remaining, the tournament could be anyone's with all teams playing exceptionally well on the big stage.

Here are the odds:

Morocco 15/8
Senegal 7/2
Nigeria 9/2
Egypt 7/1
Ivory Coast 7/1
Algeria 8/1
Mali 16/1
Cameroon 16/1

All odds courtesy of TalkSPORT Bet (12:29pm on 07/01/26)

Football Park's Best Bets

With so many players closing in on the Golden Boot it is hard to call. But we are backing Victor Osimhen at odds of 9/2. The forward leads the line for Nigeria who look set to go all the way and redeem their defeat in the 2024 final. If Nigeria are to win AFCON then it will be through this man and with players such as Lookman and Chukwueze playing him in, he won't be short of chances.

Now who do we think will win it all? If you couldn't tell from our Golden Boot pick, we are backing Nigeria to go all the way - also at odds of 9/2. They cruised to the last eight, topping their group with three wins and then smashed Mozambique 4-0 in the last 16. On paper they have the best team and we are surprised they're not the betting favourites.