Tag: Africa

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations has reached the semi final stage.

The hosts exited at the round of 16 stage of the 24 team tournament. Mohamed Salah led Egypt could therefore be seen as the disappointment of the tournament, losing 1-0 to South Africa.

Madagascar were the surprising team of the group stage topping Group B with seven points, one more than Nigeria. The Barea islanders were led by Carolus Andriamatsinoro and their form extended into the knockout stage where they beat DR Congo on penalties before losing 3-0 to Tunisia in the quarter finals.

Benin were also surprising. The did finish only third in Group F behind Cameroon and Ghana but in the first knockout round beat Morocco on penalties, before losing 1-0 to Senegal. Mickael Pote scored Benin’s only two group stage goals as they tied all three games.

Despite the surprises the final four is made up of traditional African powers. It is Senegal vs Tunisia and Algeria vs Nigeria.

Algeria are the in form team having scored six but not conceded in the group stage. The North Africans then beat Guinea 3-0 in the round of 16 and won on penalties vs Ivory Coast (coached by Clarence Seedorf)

Algeria’s Adam Ounas shares the lead of the goal scoring chart and has scored three times so far. Riyad Mahrez and Youcef Belaili have scored two each. Senegal’s Sadio Mane has scored three and so has Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo.

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations features 24 teams for the first time. 51 teams entered the qualification and near half have made to the tournament. It will be held in Egypt from June 21st to to July 19th. Cameroon were initially awarded the 32nd edition but due to political and infrastructure problems were stripped and the dates were also pushed back from a June 13th start due to the holy muslim month of Ramadan.

As with every edition of the Cup controversy and lack of organization is a problem. Egypt do have the stadiums and are well suited to host, all despite the violence that has been rife in their stadiums in the recent past. Sierra Leone were disqualified after FIFA for the usual ‘government interference’ reasons. In part due to that disqualification Ghana and Kenya found an easier path to Egypt.

Twelve groups of four competed with top two of each group qualifying. The 51 teams had been reduced to the 48 after a mini preliminary round led to the exit of Sao Tome and Principe, Mauritius and Djibouti at the hands of Madagascar, Comoros and South Sudan respectively. Somewhat surprisingly Madagascar have qualified for the final tournament after finishing second in a group that included Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.

The full list of qualified teams is not all that surprising and although some groups threatened upsets – for example at one point South Africa tied Libya and the Seychelles to put qualification a bit in doubt – none really occurred.

The 24 teams are divided into four pots based on their African Confederation (CAF) rankings. Six groups of four will play, top two of each group plus the four best third placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. The draw will take place on April 12 in Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt Cameroon Ghana Ivory Coast  Tunisia Senegal

Morocco  Nigeria   Algeria   Guinea   Mali   DR Congo

Uganda  South Africa  Guinea-Bissau  Zimbabwe   Angola   Burundi

Mauritania Namibia Benin Kenya Madagascar Tanzania