Algeria secured prime spot in Group E on the Africa Cup of Nations with a 100% report after they beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1.
Vladimir Petkovic made 9 modifications to his Algeria facet as that they had already booked their place within the final 16, however that made little distinction to their domination so far within the event as their relentless first-half show set them on their option to victory.
Algeria instantly piled the strain on Equatorial Guinea, and it informed within the nineteenth minute when Zineddine Belaid glanced Anis Hadj Moussa’s nook into the far nook.
And that lead was doubled simply six minutes later when Fares Chaibi, who was inflicting all kinds of issues for the opposition, was performed into the field by Ibrahim Maza earlier than rifling in a shot on the close to submit.
Maza then received on the scoresheet himself shortly after the half-hour mark, with Hadj Moussa the supplier once more as his cross was met by the Bayer Leverkusen teenager to present Algeria an unassailable lead.
Algeria did take their foot off the fuel within the second half, and Equatorial Guinea pulled a aim again within the fiftieth minute as captain Emilio Nsue scored with a surprising end into the top-left nook, nevertheless it proved to be only a comfort.
Burkina Faso additionally progressed into the knockout rounds from Group E, defeating Sudan 2-0 with objectives from Lassina Traore and Arsene Kouassi to complete second.
FULL-TIME!
A 3-1 win for Algeria over Equatorial Guinea. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | @tecnomobile pic.twitter.com/aGDo9xA6BQ
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 31, 2025
Knowledge Debrief: Maza continues to show himself on the large stage
It was a simple win for Algeria in the long run, with Petkovic’s rotated facet producing 1.53 anticipated objectives (xG) from 16 photographs to Equatorial Guinea’s 0.4 from 9 makes an attempt.
20-year-old Maza, who scored of their first sport in opposition to Sudan, was spectacular as soon as once more. He created 4 possibilities, the joint-most alongside Hadj Moussa, whereas profitable six of his seven duels and two of his three tackles.
Maza has created essentially the most possibilities (eight) for Algeria on the 2025 AFCON, and have become the primary participant below the age of 21 to seem in all three group stage video games for Algeria in a single version since Nabil Bentaleb in 2015.