“The knockout stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will be the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. It will begin on 3 January with the round of 16 and ended on 18 January 2026 with the final held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.  A total of 16 teams (the top two teams from each group, along with the four best third-placed teams) advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. In the knockout stage, except for the third place play-off, if a match was level at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. In the third place play-off, if the scores remained level after 90 minutes the match would go directly to a penalty shoot-out, without any extra time being played. …”
W – 2025 Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage