For most people, it does not matter how you qualified for the next round of the competition. What matters is whether you actually qualify for it in the first place. This has proven to be true in many situations as teams who barely scratch it into the next round would sometimes come out victorious in the end. In this Afcon, the qualifying would also involve some of the best losers in their group making the second place look like gold in the process. 2nd place is where teams like Senegal and Uganda ended up. The amazing part? Now, they have to play each other in what would be the first knockout stage in the Afcon for this year.

Senegal

Senegal would have wanted to finish in 1st place in their group. However, they failed to achieve this when Algeria ran out winners in the second match against them. However, they still manage to finish on 6 points and would be happy at their display and attitude in this competition. Next challenge now in Uganda. A win here against Uganda would take them to the quarterfinals of the competition. A loss, however, would very much end their stay in the Afcon. This is after all the knockout stage of the competition. It is poised thinly and we can expect one heck of a match from this matchup.

Uganda

Uganda has had a great time in the Afcon so far considering the many strong teams which are all around them. With 4 points in the bag from their group, they managed to finish 2nd and move on to the next stage of the competition. However, a match against Senegal is surely going to give them the chills as they would have hoped to get a simpler foe. A loss here would obviously end their campaign and that would leave them gutted, to say the least. However, another aspect of their game which is not currently working for them would be their form.

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Form

Granted, just a single loss in six games for Uganda would seem to be an awesome record. However, they have also just won twice out of the lot. This means that they have recorded three draws in the process which is simply not good enough especially when you consider the form which their opponents have been able to achieve in the same number of games so far.

Senegal has lost two in the last six games. While this is inferior to the number of games which has been lost by Uganda, the more decisive point is that they have been able to win every single match that is remaining. This shows that they have the ability to be decisive when it comes to football matches where they have the upper ground. This would surely be discomforting for Uganda and could very well mean that they are going to be fighting for their lives in this game.

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What we know for certain is that both teams would give their all and that is enough.