Recap: Wednesday’s AFCON and Asian Cup Action

In the Asian Cup match, Japan emerged victorious with a 3-1 win over Indonesia. Keito Nakamura of Stade de Reims was part of the starting 11, contributing 69 minutes of play before being substituted. Takumi Minamino of AS Monaco and Junya Ito of Reims entered the game as substitutes, with Minamino playing for 21 minutes and Ito for 11 minutes during the team’s successful performance.

Moving on to AFCON, the recent group stage games included a goalless draw between Mali and Namibia, with Boubakar Kouyaté from Montpellier and Moussa Diarra from Toulouse FC were present in the starting lineup for Mali. Monaco’s Mohamed Camara and Stade Brestois’ Kamory Doumbia came in as substitutes. Camara played for 22 minutes, and Doumbia saw 37 minutes of action.

The Tunisia-South Africa match, happening concurrently with the Mali-Namibia game, ended in a goalless draw. Montassar Talbi from FC Lorient completed the full 90 minutes for the Eagles of Carthage.

DR Congo faced Tanzania in a match that ended in a goalless draw. Chancel Mbemba from Olympique de Marseille, Gedeon Kalulu from FC Lorient, and Samuel Moutoussamy from FC Nantes played the full 90 minutes for the Leopards.

Finally, Morocco defeated Zambia 1-0 to close out the group stage at the AFCON. Morocco’s starting lineup featured Achraf Hakimi from Paris Saint-Germain, Yunis Abdelhamid from Stade de Reims, and Azzedine Ounahi from Marseille. Reims’ Amir Richardson appeared for the first time in this AFCON tournament, entering the game as a substitute and contributing 22 minutes on the field.