WhoScored.com pick their team of the quarter-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations; watch the tournament live on Sky Sports; Sky Sports are showing all 52 games live with around 40 Premier League players featuring
Monday 31 January 2022 17:59, UK
The AFCON quarter-finals have drawn to a close, with tournament hosts Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Senegal having all advanced to the semi-finals.
Mohamed Salah scored the equaliser and created the winner to inspire Egypt's comeback win over Morocco, Senegal saw off the threat of giant-killers Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon saw off lowly-ranked Gambia and Burkina Faso earned a surprise win over Tunisia.
Here we run through WhoScored.com's best-rated XI from the last-eight ties.
AFCON hosts Cameroon are the dominant side in the quarter-finals best XI on the back of their routine 2-0 win over Gambia to book their semi-final spot. Andre Onana had little to do in the way of keeping the Gambia attack at bay, making just one save, but was one of two goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet that saw him land a WhoScored.com rating of 6.78.
The first of two Cameroon representatives in the defence, Collins Fai registered his third assist of AFCON in the win over Gambia, providing for Karl Toko Ekambi shortly after the restart. One tackle and one clearance saw the 29-year-old return a WhoScored.com rating of 7.30.
Playing a key role in Cameroon's clean sheet quarter-final win was centre-back Jean-Charles Castelletto. A return of five clearances was solid enough from the 27-year-old, who is the third of six Indomitable Lions players to feature having earned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.54.
Linking up with Castelletto at the heart of the defence in the best XI is Burkina Faso's Edmond Tapsoba. The young defender was central in keeping the Tunisia attack at bay, making five clearances and two tackles. He dealt with opposition pressure well, completing three dribbles, to make the cut with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.36.
Morocco may have crashed out to Egypt in the quarter-finals, but Adam Masina did enough in the 2-1 defeat to make the best XI. He defended solidly, making eight clearances, seven tackles and four interceptions, and while it wasn't enough to help Morocco into the semi-finals, Masina put in a performance warranting a WhoScored.com rating of 7.58.
With a rating of 8.50, Karl Toko Ekambi is WhoScored.com's AFCON player of the round. Rattling in goals number four and five of the tournament after half-time against Gambia, Ekambi hit the back of the net with two of three shots on Saturday. The 29-year-old worked hard off the ball, too, making two tackles and two interceptions to cap a superb showing.
Registering an assist on his third successive AFCON appearance, Martin Hongla set up the second of Ekambi's brace on Saturday, that assist coming from one of four key passes. The 23-year-old was solid in possession, too, having found a teammate with 90.2% of his 51 passes to make the grade with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.85.
The second Morocco player in the side joins Hongla in the middle of the park. There has been plenty of focus on Sofyan Amrabat this past week and he gave a good account of himself despite ending up on the losing side against Egypt on Sunday. The 25-year-old got about the pitch well, making six tackles and five interceptions, to return a WhoScored.com rating of 7.27
Sadio Mane has now won the WhoScored.com man of the match award in three of his five AFCON appearances after a star man showing in Senegal's 3-1 win over Equatorial Guinea on Sunday night. Mane provided the assist for Famara Diedhiou's opening goal, that coming from one of three key passes. The Senegal star also completed four dribbles to help nail down the left wing spot with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.98.
Diedhiou picked the perfect game to open his AFCON account, netting the opener in Senegal's 3-1 win over Equatorial Guinea. Diedhiou found a way past Jesus Owono with one of two shots, while the 29-year-old did all he could to ease pressure on the Senegal goal having being fouled three times to join compatriot Mane in the best XI with the WhoScored.com rating of 7.46.
With a WhoScored.com rating of 7.41, Vincent Aboubakar partners Diedhiou on the frontline and is the sixth Cameroon player to make the XI. The 30-year-old was unable to add to his six goals in their 2-0 win over Gambia, but it wasn't for want of trying having mustered six shots. He broke the lines well, too, completing four dribbles to round off the team of the quarter-finals.
