Eight of Africa’s top 10-ranked countries will be in Gabon for the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, and they all have a realistic chance of lifting the title.
The range of talent on display across the 16 teams should ensure a high-quality Africa Cup of Nations tournament, in which the stifling equatorial heat of Gabon could play an important role.
Africa’s showpiece tournament features nine former winners with Egypt (7), Cameroon (4), Ghana (4), the DRC (2) and Cote d’Ivoire (2) having won 19 of the 30 titles between them.
A lot of interest will be focused on Gabon, not only because of the class of their star player, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the 2016 African and German Footballer of the Year, but because the success of the tournament will depend on how far the host nation progresses.
The Panthers should be able to overcome newcomers Guinea Bissau, whose surprise qualification makes them the 39th of Caf’s 54 members to play at Afcon, but they then have to overcome two formidable foes in Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
The return of Egypt to the tournament for the first time since 2010, when coach Hassan Shehata piloted their golden generation to a third successive title, is keenly anticipated, particularly since they have made a good start to their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with victories over Congo and Ghana, whom they face in Group D.
Uganda’s return to Caf’s flagship tournament couldn’t have been more poignantly scripted as they meet Ghana in their opening game on 17 January, their last game at the Nations Cup being their 2-0 defeat against the Black Stars in the final of the 1978 tournament. The Cranes’ Serbian-born coach Micho Sredojevic has done a remarkable job in reviving the east Africans, who held Ghana to a goalless away draw in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in October.
Cote d’Ivoire will find it hard to retain their title, particularly in the absence of the injured Gervinho and the influential Yaya Toure, who has retired from international football.
Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Senegal and the DRC all have lots of talent and experience in their ranks and each will quietly fancy their chances of becoming African champions on 5 February.
