The long wait for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is finally over, with the delayed 2021 edition getting underway this Sunday. Originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2021 before being brought forward to January of that year to avoid Cameroon’s rainy season, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a further year-long delay.
But the first AFCON tournament for two and a half years promises to be worth the wait. The unpredictability of the tournament throughout the years which saw the unfancied Zambia stun Ivory Coast to win the title in 2012 and of course Nigeria beating Burkina Faso in 2013, makes the month-long festival of African football a must watch.
Festival of football
There will be 24 teams participating in the AFCON for the second time, with the format similar to that of the UEFA European Championships with the top two from each group qualifying automatically, joined by the best four third placed teams in the last 16.
An unbeaten qualification campaign helped Nigeria qualify as one of the top six seeds putting them in pot one out of four. The Super Eagles face a tricky opening tie against seven-time champions Egypt who will be looking for their first title since 2010. Sudan and Guinea-Bissau make up the rest of Group D.
The group stage kicks-off on Sunday January 9th, with hosts Cameroon playing Burkina Faso at 5pm, culminating on January 20th. The knock-out rounds start on January 23rd, with the big final scheduled for February 6th at 8pm after the third place play-off.
How the favourites shape up
As the only side in the AFCON in the top 20 of the FIFA World rankings, Senegal are slight favourites to win their first title with the majority of bookmakers, including Bet9ja. The Lions of Teranga fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Algeria in the 2019 final but will be hoping to go one better with arguably one of the best players in world football. Liverpool’s Sadio Mane has been in good goalscoring form for the Red this season with 10 goals in all competitions, including eight in the English Premier League.
Mane has netted seven times in the past 11 internationals and will hold the key to whether or not Senegal can finally get over the line. Also with the likes of Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, PSG’s Idrissa Gueye and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr, Senegal possess a formidable starting-XI and should have far too much for Zimbabwe, Guinea and Malawi in Group B.
Current AFCON holders Algeria are on the type of form akin to Italy when the Azurri lifted the Euros last year. The 2019 champions are currently on a 34-match unbeaten run stretching back to October 2018 when they lost 1-0 to Benin. Since then, the Desert Warriors have won the AFCON, as well as the Arab Cup last month, and scored 25 goals winning four and drawing two of their World Cup Qualifiers to progress to the final round.
Man City’s Riyad Mahrez is undoubtedly the star man, Algeria’s captain scoring eight times in nine appearances for his country last year. But there’s plenty more quality in the ranks with AFCON 2019 player of the tournament Ismael Bennacer, West Ham’s Said Benrahma and the country’s record all-time goalscorer with 39 goals Islam Slimani. Algeria begin their title defence against Sierra Leone in Group E, followed by matches with Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast.
Egypt might be the most successful AFCON team with seven titles but it’s been a rocky past decade for them in this competition. The Pharaohs had the ignominy of failing to qualify for three editions from 2012 to 2015, before finishing runners-up to Cameroon in 2017. South Africa stunned Mo Salah and company in the last 16 in 2019, and you can expect the Egyptians will be looking to right a few wrongs over the next month.
Any country with the insatiable Mo Salah will be a contender. The Liverpool forward is currently the top scorer in the Premier League with 16 goals to his name, and 23 in all competitions. He has had a more quiet time, by his high standards at least, for his country over the past couple of years with just four goals in 10 caps. Premier League fans will also be familiar with the likes of Ahmed Hegazi, Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and Aston Villa’s Trezeguet but Super Eagles fans will be hoping they will be kept quiet when Nigeria face Egypt in the opening Group D encounter on January 11th.
We make the Super Eagles seventh favourites to add another title to go with their 1980, 1994 and 2013 successes but there has been plenty of upheaval in the build-up to the AFCON. First of all an indifferent World Cup qualifying campaign cost Gernot Rohr his job despite qualifying for the play-offs, after a disappointing defeat to the Central African Republic and a below-par draw to Cape Verde.
Former Super Eagles defender Augustine Eguavoen has been tasked to lead a side without several key players, none more so than Victor Osimhen. The Napoli forward was the joint-top scorer in AFCON qualifying with five goals and has been in fine form for his club side with nine goals in 14 appearances so far this season. But he misses out following a positive COVID-19 test, with Watford top scorer Emmanuel Dennis also missing through a dispute between club and country.
2019 AFCON top scorer Odion Ighalo is the latest absentee after his club team Al Shabab refused to release him, in another body blow for the Super Eagles. That means much of the attacking responsibility will fall to Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho who impressed last season with 19 goals for his club. He has scored 11 goals for Nigeria so far and his country will be needing him to add a few more to that tally if the Super Eagles have a chance of going far this year.
How far do you see the Super Eagles progressing? Who will be the top scorer at AFCON? Which country will get their hands on the coveted trophy? Head to Bet9ja to bet on an array of markets during AFCON 2021.
