The Leopards were widely written off after back-to-back defeats in the group stage, but could be real Nations Cup contenders now
In almost every scenario, losing your first two group matches in a tournament spells an early exit, but the Democratic Republic of Congo have been the great beneficiaries of the Africa Cup of Nations expansion.
The 24-team format means—somewhat redundantly—that only eight teams are eliminated after the group stage, with all but two of the third-placed teams advancing to the Round of 16.
That appears to be a meagre consequence for the first 36 matches of the tournament, but there was still much to be decided heading into the final round of group games, with only Cameroon, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt assured of their spots in the next round.