Africa Cup of Nations: The big preview - Sadio Mane to double up? Mohamed Salah to lead Egypt to glory?

The postponed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will finally take place as the continent’s top teams fight it out for local supremacy.

Initially slated for last summer, climate concerns in the host nation Ivory Coast saw the competition delayed and ultimately moved to January 2024.

The tournament which originally began with just three teams back in 1957 now boasts a mammoth 24 sides doing battle in its 34th edition.

The hosts kick off the tournament against Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan aiming to win the competition for the third time but will have their work cut out despite home advantage.

Defending champions Senegal, World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and record winners Egypt are all in contention, as are other traditional African powerhouses Nigeria, Algeria and Ghana.

The competition is also ripe for shocks as 2012 winners Zambia and 2013 finalists Burkina Faso can attest, with both sides also featuring this year.

With several teams gunning for the February 11 final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, we take a look at how they are shaping up ahead of the tournament.

Ivory Coast come into the tournament both riding a wave of optimism as hosts but also with the pressure that comes with that.

A star-studded squad featuring the likes of Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare, Willy Boly, Nicolas Pepe and Sebastian Haller could even afford to see manager Jean-Louis Gasset leave out Wilfried Zaha and Eric Bailly.

Les Elephants, who love hyping a ‘golden generation’ as much as anyone, will see the current side more than capable of lifting the trophy for the first time since their last triumph in 2015.

However, generally unimpressive since that success, home advantage will see mean little room for excuses for another underperformance at the tournament.

They will be expected to advance from the group as will fellow African powerhouse Nigeria, spearheaded by Victor Osimhen, unquestionably one of the hottest strikers in the world in the last two years.

Expectation doesn’t simply rest on the shoulders of the Napoli man either, with the likes of Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze and Frank Onyeka tasked with getting the Super Eagles flying.

But the team arrive in Ivory Coast in horrendous form having drawn with minnows Lesotho and Zimbabwe in their most recent 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as well as losing 2-0 to Guinea in their final warm up match.

Add to that the pre-tournament injuries to Victor Boniface and Wilfred Ndidi, and the fear of a potential early upset is ramped up.

Looking to take full advantage would be Equatorial Guinea whose impressive AFCON record has not seen them fail to reach the quarter-finals in their only three tournament appearances.

After getting a famous group-stage win over one of the pre-tournament favourites Algeria in 2022, Los Elefantes will be looking to repeat that feat over at least one of the top dogs this time around, with key man Jose Machin one to watch in the competition.

Also eyeing a potential shock are Guinea-Bissau, who, although the weakest side in the group on paper, can actually point to a win over Nigeria, IN Nigeria, during the qualification stage for the competition.

Egypt and Mohamed Salah will be determined to right the wrongs of 2022 where they looked on course for a first title since their ‘three-peat’ in 2006, 2008 and 2010, but were thwarted in heartbreaking fashion in a the final, losing on penalties to Senegal.

They arrive with an experienced squad (just three players under 25) and with two-time Portuguese title winner with Benfica Rui Vitoria in the dugout.

Much was made of Carlos Queiroz’s more ‘agricultural’ approach to lead the Pharaohs to the final last time so it will be interesting to see if Vitoria opts for a more expansive game to get the likes of Salah and former Aston Villa man Trezeguet firing.

Another team looking to exorcise the ghosts of the 2022 tournament is Ghana, who embarrassingly finished bottom of their group in Cameroon having lost to tiny Comoros along the way.

The absence of Thomas Partey through injury is a big miss for manager Chris Hughton who is still keeping faith with the aging Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan, but will be encouraged by the recent performances of Mohammed Kudus for West Ham, with the hope he can carry that form into the tournament.

Cape Verde and Mozambique make up the group with the former hoping to at least match their last 16 appearance from the last edition of the tournament.

Cameroon come into the competition with some decent recent tournament displays under their belt.

Despite not winning AFCON on home soil last time out, their third-place finish wouldn’t have been too disheartening and although they exited the World Cup later that year in the group stage, they were by no means humiliated and even have a win over the mighty Brazil to boast from their exploits in Qatar.

The evergreen Vincent Aboubakar will look to plunder more goals after his golden boot winning display in 2022, as he hunts down Samuel Eto’o’s all-time record, while they also have Serie A winning pedigree in the shape of Napoli’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa in midfield.

The Indomitable Lions will be up against the holders in their group as Senegal look to defend their maiden AFCON title.

The core of the 2022 team, who also reached the second round of the World Cup, remains virtually intact with Sadio Mane leading the line.

The ex-Liverpool man, as well as Idrissa Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy are all over 30, but Allou Cisse can call on youth in his ranks in the form of Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr, the highly-rated Lamine Camara and Nicolas Jackson who will be keen to impress following a somewhat indifferent start to life at Chelsea.

Logic suggests Gambia and Guinea will be scrapping it out for a possible third-place avenue to the round of 16 but the latter will be buoyed by that win over Nigeria ahead of the tournament as well as having one of the most in-form strikers in the world at their disposal in Serhou Guirassy.

If the 27-year-old can continue his remarkable run of 17 goals in 14 Bundesliga games for Stuttgart at the tournament, he can perhaps help his side pull off an unexpected shock or two.

2019 champions Algeria couldn’t have hit a bump at a worse time in 2022. Going into the tournament on a 34-game unbeaten streak, the Desert Foxes drew their opening game against Sierra Leone before losing to Equatorial Guinea and ultimately went home early from a tournament many were expecting them to win.

Things went from bad to worse as they lost to Cameroon to fail to reach the 2022 World Cup, but since then, they have hit their stride once more with a friendly loss to Sweden the only blemish in that time.

A talented squad featuring the likes of Houssem Aouar, Nabil Bentaleb, Ismael Bennacer as well as of course Riyad Mahrez, and stalwarts Sofiane Feghouli and Islam Slimani, won’t be expected to suffer any further mishaps having been drawn against Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

These three sides however will perhaps see this as an opportunity for an unlikely run in the competition – as 2013 finalists Burkina Faso well know – with second and even third place potentially up for grabs.

In contrast to Group D, Group E contains three potential AFCON dark horses.

South Africa’s rapid ascent to the top of the African football food chain in the 90s was followed by a dramatic fall but Bafana Bafana look a more stable unit and with team of virtually all domestic players, might have the unity to make an impact at the tournament.

They are also coached by Belgian Hugo Broos, who previously lifted the trophy with Cameroon in 2017.

Tunisia, winners in 2004, remain one of the competitions most consistent performers, albeit without much to show for it. Ellyes Skhiri looks to be the main man in a team who will aim for a quarter-final place minimum although it would be a surprise to see them go too much further.

It is a similar story to Mali. Stuck in the position of always being a threat but never really having enough to get over the line. The Eagles almost qualified for a first ever World Cup in 2022 but ultimately ended up losing their play-off to Tunisia so there may be some spice to their group stage encounter this time around.

Tottenham’s Yves Bissouma will hope to propel his side through the group and deeper into the competition.

With such strong competition, you fear for fourth seed Namibia who will have to live up to their ‘Brave Warriors’ nickname if they are to get anything from the group.

A draw in their last pre-tournament friendly against Ghana, however, might give them hope of causing a shock as they seek a first ever win in the tournament.

Morocco were the toast of the entire continent as they became the first ever African side to reach a World Cup semi-final at Qatar 2022

Walid Regragui’s Atlas Lions are Africa’s highest ranked side by FIFA heading into the competition and so the pressure will be on to finally bring home the trophy they one once back in 1976.

The squad heading to Ivory Coast contains some big names such as Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat, Youssef En-Nesyri, Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui among others and if they take a similar approach to the one they did at the World Cup, it is difficult to look beyond them finally ending that long AFCON drought.

Potentially standing in their way is the DR Congo who come into the tournament also clutching onto the ‘dark horse’ tag as they look to replicate a history in which they were the kings of the continent, winning the competition twice in 1968 and 1974 as Zaire.

Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, Theo Bongonda and Fiston Mayele will be players to keep an eye on for the Leopards.

In a cruel twist of fate, FIFA’s lowest ranked African side in the competition are also in this group in the shape of Tanzania.

Manager Adel Amrouche has taken a side with virtually no footballing pedigree to Africa’s premier competition, with the Taifa Stars mostly calling on home-based players as well as the likes of Tarryn Allarakhia and Haji Mnoga who turn out for Weldstone and Aldershot respectively - you might be familiar with those two if you are a fan of TNT Sports’ coverage of the National League.

Zambia also feature in the group with the more recognisable Patson Daka at their disposal with the shock 2012 champions once again hoping to translate local continued success as one of the best teams in their sub-confederation COSAFA (Council of Southern Africa Football Associations), across the continent.

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