A cross section of Uganda Cranes’ winning squad
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Football experts have predicted that Uganda stands a high chance of progressing to the quarter finals of the ongoing CHAN 2024 tournament.
The results of the two games that were played at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala on Friday August 15th 2025 worked in the favour of the Uganda Cranes.
Joel Mutakubwa, Uganda goalkeeper won the man of the match accolade
Algeria were held 1:1 by Guinea, while South Africa failed to sail through Niger’s defences in the game that ended goalless. Uganda, which is co-hosting the tournament with Kenya and Tanzania, remained on top of Group C on six points.
But the mathematics still daunt Uganda’s chances of hitting the quarters. In Group C, the two qualification spots are still up for the taking, with three teams still in contention. After securing back-to-back wins for the first time in the history of the CHAN tournament, Uganda will get a reality check from South Africa.
Looking at the head-to-head record between Uganda and South Africa, the fixture has been dominated by the latter.
In the last six meetings, South Africa has won four, drawn four, and suffered no loss against the Uganda Cranes.
The decider
Lawrence Mayanja, a Kampala based soccer pundit has equated Uganda’s match against the Bafana Bafana on Monday as a final in its own right.
“It will determine whether we will bow out of this tournament with embarrassment, as a host who failed to go beyond the group stages, or one that has topped the group all the way and advanced with flying colors,” he said in an interview over the weekend.
In Monday’s August 18th match against South Africa, Uganda will only need to avoid defeat in order to remain on top of the group and advance. In the other game to be played at exactly the same time, Algeria will have to beat Niger in Nairobi to guarantee their passage into the knockout stage.
But the mathematics in all this is that Bafana Bafana will advance with a victory over Uganda. But the Cranes will still go through if they are defeated and Algeria are beaten by Niger.
Elimination squabbles
While some teams are on the brink of joining Tanzania in the knockout stage or quarterfinals, as many others are on the blink of elimination. Some seven teams have already been shown the exit. These include the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Zambia, Angola, Niger and Guinea.
Goals galore
Football lovers have been awed in what has come to be described as a goals galore during this edition of Africa’s flagship biennial tournament. The tournament has so far delivered 58 goals in 28 games across the four groups.
The top scorers include Uganda’s Allan Okello, Kenya’s Austin Odhiambo, Tanzania’s Clement Mzize and Angola’s Kaporal. Others include South Africa’s Thabiso Kutumela, Sudan’s AbdelRaouf and Algeria’s Sofiane Bayazid.
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