Tuesday, 17 August, 2021 witnessed the draw for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Yaoundé as the 24 teams that qualified for the tournament were drawn into six groups.
The tournament, which was originally supposed to hold this year, was postponed to hold between 09 January and 06 February, 2022 but retains its tag as AFCON 2021, much like other tournaments that were affected by the pandemic such as EURO 2020 and Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The groups have the following teams:
Group A: Cameroon Burkina Faso Ethiopia Cape Verde
Group B: Senegal Zimbabwe Guinea Malawi
Group C: Morocco Ghana Comoros Gabon
Group D: Nigeria Egypt Sudan Guinea-Bissau
Group E: Algeria Sierra-Leone Eq. Guinea Côte d’Ivoire
Group F: Tunisia Mali Mauritania Gambia
The two teams to finish first and second in each group with the four best third-place finishers will qualify for the round of 16.
The opening match sees the hosts, Cameroon, trading tackles with Burkina Faso in Yaoundé on January 9, 2022 after the opening ceremony.
The third-place match will be played on Sunday, February 6, 2022 in Yaoundé by 17:00 hrs while the final and closing ceremony will take place later same day in Yaoundé by 20:00hrs.
The draw brought in lots of football stars from the African continent like El Hadji Diouf, Nwankwo Kanu, Lucas Radebe, and Rigobert Song. Others include, Samuel Eto’o, Gaelle Enganamouit, Rabah Madjer, Didier Drogba, Asamoah Gyan, etc.
According to CAF, “52 countries took part in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations with only 24 places available. The qualified teams unveiled after a campaign that started in October 2019 and ended in June 2021, due to the one-year hiatus caused by Covid-19, are now fixed on their opponents.”
Breaking down the “Road to Final”, CAF reported as follows:
- Group stage: from January 9 to 20, 2022
- Round of 16: January 23-26, 2022
- Quarter-finals: January 29 and 30, 2022
- Semi-finals: February 2 and 3, 2022
- Third Place match and Final: February 6, 2022
The publication concluded that, “Five main cities were selected as hosts of the tournament, namely Douala and its Japoma Stadium, Yaoundé and its Ahmadou Ahidjo and Olembé Stadiums, Bafoussam and its Kouekong Stadium, Garoua and its Roumdé-Adjia Stadium and finally the Limbe-Buea venue which houses the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.”
Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr, Reacts to the Draw
Reacting to the draw that placed the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Group D, alongside Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, the Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr, has given assurances that the team will do every thing possible to ensure the Super Eagles qualify from the group. While responding to newsmen in Yaoundé after the draw, Rohr was quoted as saying, “The first game is very important; Nigeria-Egypt, it’s a very good game and we would see, we have to finish top two in the group to go into last 16, it’s not an easy group but we are very confident.”
Talking about his programs to prepare the Eagles ahead of the tournament, Rohr revealed that, “We will have at least one or two friendlies before the competition, we will start our campaign on the 11th (January). It’s the third day of the tournament so we have a bit more time but we have to be in Cameroon on the 6th – five days before the competition.
“We will be here not for friendly but to prepare and adapt to the different climate in case it gets very hot and humid in Garoua. So I think we will be okay, we will see the stadium tomorrow (Wednesday) I am sure we would have a good atmosphere, the city loves football.”
The Super Eagles will face Egypt on January 11, Sudan on January 15, and Guinea Bissau on January 19.
While Egypt boasts of having the highest AFCON titles with 7, Nigeria has an edge when it comes to head-to-head in the tournament. Both teams have met 10 times with the Super Eagles winning 4, drawing 3 and losing 3.
It remains to be seen where the title goes come February 6 as these 24 African teams jostle to have the last laugh.
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
