The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting has taken some pretty unexpected twist and turns during the tournament, and now with the competition at the quarter final stage, are we headed for an expected final, or a big surprise. The two big guns of the tournament, the Ivory Coast and Ghana are safely through to the quarter finals. The Ivory Coast comfortably rattled off three wins from three in their group stage without even conceding a goal, and they remain strong favourites for the title. The Ivory Coast take on joint host nation Equatorial Guinea, who have been thrilling the home crowds with their exploits. After opening with a famous win over Libya, Equatorial Guinea proved that that was no fluke at all, when they went out and beat one of the hotly tipped dark horses, Senegal, thanks to a late injury time winner. Although Equatorial Guinea lost to group winner Zambia, they had done enough to get through against the odds. Now they have been rewarded with a great clash against the Ivory Coast. The joint host nation of course will be underdogs for that match, but they will enjoy their underdog role and no doubt give a very colourful account of themselves. The Ivory Coast though remain strong favourites to take the title, trading at a market best price of 11/8 with Bet365 in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting.
Online bookmaker BetFred are running a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting promotion for their punters to enjoy. If any African Nations match happens to end up in a 0-0 draw (in 90 minutes of play) then the highly popular bookie will refund all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Double Result bets placed on the match prior to kick off. So this is pretty good coverage on your Africa Cup of Nations betting from BetFred. The online bookie offers a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account as well. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum value of £50.
Second favourites Ghana, who topped their group with two wins and a draw, have a tougher looking quarter final match as they take on Tunisia. Ghana, the Black Stars, have been putting out their usual efficient and effective football, getting the job done without any fuss or bother. There should be more to come from them hopefully, but they will take on a tricky Tunisia side. Tunisia won both of their opening group matches 2-1, which included a victory over the fancied Morocco. Although they couldn’t make it three wins out of three, going down to Gabon in their final group match, Tunisia had done enough to secure their place in the quarter finals. They should be able to give Ghana a good game, and it should be a closely ran thing, and is probably not going to be as open as the Ivory Coast v Equatorial Guinea. But Ghana, who are 11/4 at Bet365 in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting to win the title are pretty tight and solid at the back, and have pace breaking forward. They will be expected to move ahead to the semi finals, and the projected Africa Cup of Nations Final match of Ghana v Ivory Coast is still on the cards.
So it has been a strange Africa Cup of Nations betting fiesta this year. Top teams like Cameroon and Egypt never even made it through qualifying, and the joint host nations, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon find themselves at the quarter final stage, at the expense of higher ranked teams like Morocco, Libya and Senegal. Gabon actually are trading very well in the betting, after rattling off three wins from three in their group stage, and the highest scoring team to qualify for the knockouts.
2012 Africa Cup of Nations Quarter Final Betting
Zambia 5/6, Draw 5/2, Sudan 22/5 at Bet365
Ivory Coast 4/9, Draw 7/2, Equatorial Guinea 9/1 at SkyBet
Gabon Evens, Draw 12/5, Mali 18/5 at BetVictor
Ghana Evens, Draw 12/5, Tunisia 10/30 at BetFair
2012 Africa Cup of Nations Outright Winner Betting
Ivory Coast: 11/8 at BetFred
Ghana: 11/4 at Bet365
Gabon: 13/2 at SportingBet
Zambia: 12/1 at Boylesports
Tunisia: 14/1 at Stan James
Mali: 25/1 at SkyBet
Equatorial Guinea: 50/1 at Bwin
Sudan: 80/1 at Stan James
