Overview
Angola entered the second round of Group B at the 2025 African Football Cup determined to regain recovery momentum after an unsatisfactory start.
In the opening match, they lost 1-2 to South Africa, in which Show equalized after the opening goal before Lyle Foster scored in the 79th minute, bringing victory to Bafana Bafana.
This defeat extended Angola's unconvincing start to the AFCON, when they have not won in 9 of their last 10 opening matches, including 6 draws and 3 losses. Their only win in this period came at the 2012 AFCON, when they beat Vietnam Vietnam 2-1.
In the previous two defeats in the opening AFCON matches in 1996 and 2006, Angola only drew in the second match and have never advanced past the group stage after losing the opening match.
However, history also brings positive signals. Angola have won three times in the second round of the group stage after failing to win the opening match. They were in 2008 against Senegal, 2010 against Malawi and 2023 against Mauritania.
In the second nine matches of the AFCON group stage, Angola have recorded three wins, four draws and two losses, with both defeats coming against South Africa in 1996 and 2013. Their pre-tournament form is also unstable, with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the last 6 official matches.
Patrice Beaumelle's team has scored at least 3 goals in each of their recent three wins against Mauritius, Zambia and Mozambique, and had draws in the World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon and Eswatini. In total, they scored 12 goals but also conceded 8.
In terms of head-to-head, the two COSAFA regional representatives have met 19 times, with Angola and Zimbabwe both having 8 wins, in addition to 3 draws. The first encounter took place on November 10, 1985 and ended with a 3-2 victory for Zimbabwe.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe lost their opening match against Egypt when they conceded two goals in the second half, thanks to Omar Marmoush and Mohamed Salah. This was their third consecutive opening defeat and their fifth defeat in their history participating in AFCON.
Despite regularly participating in the finals in recent years, Marian Marinica's team still has many difficulties in passing the group stage. They have lost their second group stage match in four of their previous five appearances, except for the draw at the 2019 AFCON.
Zimbabwe have never won their first two AFCON matches. Their 3 rare victories in the tournament all came in the final match of the group stage. The defeat to Egypt was also the 11th loss out of 16 matches they have played in the final round.
Zimbabwe's last 5 matches at the AFCON have all been decided by a win or loss, with one win and four losses. Notably, they have never kept a clean sheet or drawn without a goal in the tournament.
This match marked the second time Zimbabwe have faced another South African opponent at the AFCON, after a 1-2 defeat to Malawi in the second round of the 2021 group stage. However, they have scored in all three of their most recent matches in the competition, Zimbabwe's longest streak in AFCON history.
The match between Angola and Zimbabwe takes place at 7:30 p.m. on December 26 (Vietnam time).
