Premium sporting excitement awaits football enthusiasts in Africa and beyond as 24 countries will vie to be crowned the new Kings of African Football. The month-long continental showpiece will get underway on January 9 and an intense battle on the pitch is expected with the galaxy of stars converging in Cameroon ready to slug it out towards clinching the coveted Title for their respective nations.
***
AFCON 2021, the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations which is a biennial international men’s football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon and will take place between Sunday 9 January and Sunday 6 February 2022. It is also referred to as the Total Energies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021 but CAF announced on 15 January 2020 that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during this period, the tournament would take place from 9 January to 6 February 2021. On 30 June 2020, CAF moved the tournament for the second time to January 2022 following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic across the continent, whilst retaining the name 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes. More recently, the build-up to the competition further encountered some contentious back-and-forth issues around timely release of players from their respective clubs in Europe mid-season; the matter nearly turned messy in some cases but all has been settled one way or the other and all eyes are focused on the tournament now. Squad members for each team were also expanded from the usual 23 to 28 players to cover potential coronavirus problems.
The tournament will feature 52 matches and twenty-four teams divided into 4 each in 6 groups will take part, kicking off on January 9 with an opening ceremony after which hosts Cameroon will take on Burkina Faso in the 60,000-seater Olembe Stadium in Yaounde. The tournament will stretch over 50 other matches to follow that opener before culminating in the 52nd and final match on February 6 in the same stadium at the nation’s capital. The other venues to be used during the competition include the Kouekong Stadium at Bafoussam, Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo at Yaounde, the Japoma Stadium at Douala, the Roumde Adjia Stadium at Garoua and the Limbe Stadium at Limbe.
Algeria is the defending title-holders of the African Championship, having won the last edition hosted in Egypt in what was their second African Championship victory; the other one being in 1990. They defeated Senegal in the final of that 2019 competition at the Cairo International Stadium with striker Baghdad Bounedjah grabbing an early goal to claim a 1-0 victory. Nigeria came third after beating Tunisia with the same scoreline in their third-place match.
Some big names missing in this edition of the competition includes 1-time winners Zambia and South Africa, 2-time winners DR Congo and competition outliers Angola.
The countries set to battle it out this year are as follows: Group A will feature hosts Cameroon alongside Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Ethiopia; Group B will parade Guinea, Malawi, Senegal and Zimbabwe; Group Cis made up of Comoros Islands, Gabon, Ghana and Morocco; Group Dconsists of Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Sudan; Group E will have holders Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone and Group F boasts of Gambia, Mali, Mauritania and Tunisia.
The top two teams from each group, along with the best four third-placed teams will advance to the last 16 knockout stage which will be played between January 23-26. Eight teams will proceed to the Quarter-finals stage to be played within January 29-30; and Four teams will surge ahead to battle it out in the Semi-final stage to be played on February 2 and 3. Losers of the semis will seek consolation in the Third-place match slated for February 6; while winners of the semis will challenge for the trophy in the Grand Finale later that same day.
As all teams aim to earn a slot in February 6 at Olembe Stadium in Yaounde where the final will be played, who are the favorites to win this edition of the prestigious competition?
Hosts and 5-time winners; the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will absolutely relish the prospect of clinching their sixth trophy on home soil; 2-time winners and current holders, the Desert Warriors of Algeria will approach the competition brimming with confidence and aiming to seal a back-to-back truimph in the competition. The Teranga Lions of Senegal who are still smarting from their narrow loss in the 2019 final will approach the showpiece with renewed tenacity to claim the elusive title having been runners-up twice and winners on no occasion.
Elsewhere; the Super Eagles of Nigeria will be keen to grasp a fourth continental crown after coming third last time out in 2019, the Pharaohs of Egypt and record holding 7-time champions of the competition will attempt to even go further clear of all others by grabbing their eighth victory and ending their purported trophy drought with their last triumph coming over a decade ago in 2010 at Angola. Black Stars of Ghana and 4-time winners will be eager to seal a fifth triumph with their last taste of victory being 40 years ago in Libya. Former winners Ivory Coast, Morocco and Tunisia will also be pretty confident in their chances of clinching this 33rd edition of the competition.
Former runners-up Burkina Faso and Guinea will fancy their chances of upsetting the odds and going all the way to claim an astonishing triumph; while most of the remaining teams including debutants Comoros and Gambia will simply hope for a footballing miracle in order to reach the latter part of the showpiece and will approach the competition with a modest mindset of giving a respectable account of themselves in Cameroon.
AFCON 2021 will see many of the world’s best footballers competing in Cameroon. In Group A, tournament hosts Cameroon have Ajax shot-stopper Andre Onana between the sticks and Napoli’s Andre-Frank Anguissa patrolling the midfield, Burkina Faso’s attack will be led by Aston Villa’s striker Bertrand Traore; while Cape Verde and Ethiopia will hope the underdog tag can motivate their set of exciting players to perform some footballing wonders. In Group B, Senegal has several Europe-based stars in their squad, including Chelsea’s highly rated goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye, Watford wonderkid Ismaila Sarr and prolific Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, their group rivals Guinea boast another Liverpool midfield marshal in Naby Keita; while Malawi and Zimbabwe will put their destiny in the hands of their dynamic home-based stars. Group C top seeds Morocco will be captained by Wolves defender Romain Saiss and they also have PSG star Achraf Hakimi plus an array of Europe-based stars to call upon, while Ghana has Arsenal maestro Thomas Partey and the Ayew brothers in their ranks. Gabon will be led by exiled Arsenal hitman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang while Comoros’ bid to gatecrash the party in the group will be spearheaded by their little-known debutants.
Over in Group D, Egypt have arguably the best player in the tournament in their line-up as Liverpool’s dazzling magician Mohamed Salah aims to lead his nation to an eighth continental victory. However, they face in the group a formidable Nigeria side with the likes of Leicester City powerhouses Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfried Ndidi, with veterans Odion Ighalo, Ahmed Musa and many other shining stars also available to pick from while Sudan and Guinea-Bissau will look up to their representatives to try and cause problems for the group’s favorites.
Defending champions Algeria in Group E can call upon Manchester City’s pacey wizard Riyad Mahrez, West ham winger Said Benrahma, Lyon striker Islam Slimani, AC Milan midfield anchor Ismael Bennacer and Galatasaray star Sofiane Feghouli. But they face a tough challenge to top the group from a stacked Ivory Coast squad, which includes Manchester United defender Eric Bailly, Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, Burnley forward Maxwel Cornet, Ajax red-hot striker Sébastien Haller, Crystal Palace mercurial winger Wilfried Zaha, and Arsenal prodigy Nicolas Pepe; while Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone will rely on their less famous stars to upset the group’s final standings
Group F top guns Tunisia boast one of the most exciting young talents in the tournament in Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, who will go up against Mali’s Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara and Southampton poacher Moussa Djenepo among other stars from Mauritania and Gambia.
The top goal scorer in the 2019 edition was Odion Ighalo of Nigeria who clinched the individual laurel with 5 goals. The Saudi-based striker is in the Nigerian squad for the tournament and will be eager to achieve a similar success in front of goal this time around, but keen competition will be expected from Egyptian goal machine Mohammed Salah, Gabon’s talisman Pierre Aubameyang, Senegal’s Sadio Mane, Algeria’s frontman Riyad Mahrez, Ivorian hitman Sébastien Haller among others.
For the exclusive 4-week period that the competition will last, an exciting footballing fiesta surely awaits fans and supporters, who have patiently waited for extended periods to be able to physically witness the thrill and glamour of the competition.
