RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Adil Boulbina scored a dramatic winner in extra time for Algeria to beat Congo 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 match on Tuesday.
Defending champion Ivory Coast progressed in contrasting fashion with a comfortable 3-0 win over Burkina Faso.
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Burkina Faso's Issa Kabore, right, challenges Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande during the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Burkina Faso's Ousseni Bouda sits on th epitch after the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Ivory Coast's Odilon Kossounou, right, challenges Burkina Faso's Dango Ouattara during the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Algeria's Ramy Bensebaini, left, and DR Congo's Theo Bongonda fight for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algerian fans support their national team during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algeria's Adil Boulbina heads the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algeria's Adil Boulbina scores his side's first goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Boulbina left fly for Algeria from the edge of the penalty area to the top far corner of the goal in the 119th minute, sending the majority of fans at the scented Moulay El Hassan Stadium into wild celebrations.
Algerian journalists who celebrated in the press box were warned their accreditation would be withdrawn after their unrestrained outbursts of joy. One journalist inadvertently broke a television screen after jumping on a table.
Algeria will face Nigeria in Marrakech in the quarterfinals on Saturday after the Super Eagles advanced with a 4-0 rout of Mozambique on Monday.
After its initial disappointment, Congo can prepare for a World Cup playoff. The Leopards will face either New Caledonia or Jamaica in Mexico in March for one of the last spots at the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
There was no such drama for Ivory Coast in the final second-round match in Marrakech.
Amad Diallo, who already had two goals for the Elephants, opened the scoring in the 20th when he received the ball from Yan Diomande on the edge of the penalty area and surged past two defenders before dinking the ball inside the top right corner.
Diallo returned the favor 12 minutes later for Diomande to make it 2-0 with a low shot inside the left post, and Bazoumana Touré sealed the win on a counterattack in the 87th.
The defending champion next faces Egypt in Agadir on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals.
Hundreds of supporters flocked to the Congolese embassy in Rabat before the game after hearing free tickets would be given to Congolese and Moroccan fans upon presentation of their passports to verify identity.
Algeria has been well-supported in neighboring Morocco, but relations between the two countries are strained and Moroccan fans were more likely to cheer for Algeria’s rivals. Still, despite the bid to boost Congolese support, Algerian fans were in the majority.
Local media also reported that FBI agents were attending the match to observe security arrangements which were noticeably tighter than for previous games. An Associated Press reporter had his bag searched for the first time at the tournament — twice — and was frisked twice before entering the stadium, while there was also a noticeably larger police presence than at previous games, including the matches involving Algeria.
The FBI was reportedly present to learn what it can about fan-management before next summer's World Cup.
Roared on by the green-and-white support, Algeria dominated the ball and had Congolese defenders scrambling under constant pressure.
But the big chances went Congo’s way. Cédric Bakambu had the first saved by Luca Zidane before Axel Tuanzebe headed just wide from the resultant penalty.
Bakambu headed just wide after that, and Ramy Bensebaini was forced to make a last-ditch clearance.
Congo started strongly after the break but couldn’t make it count. Riyad Mahrez fired over for Algeria, which missed further chances through Anis Hadj Moussa and Mohamed Amoura as the Fennec Foxes finished strongly.
The Leopards needed goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi on spot in extra time to deny Farès Chaïbi, then Baghdad Bounedjah. Mpasi remonstrated with his defenders but they were clearly tired and there was nothing they could do when Boulbina left fly with the winner.
Congo supporter Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, standing on a pedestal, raised his right hand at kickoff and stayed in that position posed as a statue of slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba until halftime, when he slowly lowered his arm and raised both hands over his head to applaud his fellow supporters, who’d been anything but statuesque behind him. He was back, hand raised again, for the second half, and then extra time.
Nkuka Mboladinga, who has been a fixture at Congo games during the tournament, met Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, before the game.
AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
Burkina Faso's Issa Kabore, right, challenges Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande during the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Burkina Faso's Ousseni Bouda sits on th epitch after the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Ivory Coast's Odilon Kossounou, right, challenges Burkina Faso's Dango Ouattara during the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Algeria's Ramy Bensebaini, left, and DR Congo's Theo Bongonda fight for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algerian fans support their national team during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algeria's Adil Boulbina heads the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Algeria's Adil Boulbina scores his side's first goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.
Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the U.S. to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
Before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.
Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed U.S. military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”
A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by U.S. strikes are “insignificant.”
Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.
Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.
Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.
Trump posted footage on social media showing what he said was the collapse of Iran's biggest bridge and threatening, “Much more to follow.”
Earlier Thursday, Iran state media reported that the B1 bridge that’s under construction was attacked. Two semiofficial news agencies reported that two people were killed. It was not immediately clear if the footage Trump shared was the B1 bridge, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.
Even amid the conflict, families went to a park in Tehran to play games and grill food to mark the last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz.
In Lebanon — where Israel has launched a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants — Israeli strikes have killed 27 people in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.
Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.
The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.
Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.
No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”
But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.
The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.
On Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was around $108, up about 50% from Feb. 28.
Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.
Weissert reported from Washington and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this story.
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A family enjoys their time during the annual public picnic day, known as Sizdeh Bedar, an ancient tradition, marking the 13th and last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz, holidays, at Mellat park in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners gather during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People take cover in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
