The 34th Africa Cup of Nations will be played in Ivory Coast from January 13th. Sportschau.de explains the mode, names the favorites and says where the game is being played.
Where and when will the Africa Cup of Nations be held?
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be held in Ivory Coast from January 13th to February 11th. It is the 34th tournament of its kind. The tournament, which takes place every two years, was actually supposed to have been played last summer, but those responsible decided to postpone it because of the monsoon, which brings a lot of precipitation in the summer decided.
The game will be played in a total of six stadiums in five cities. The tournament starts on January 13th at 9 p.m. with Ivory Coast’s opening game against Guinea-Bissau. The largest stadium will be the new National Stadium in the capital Abidjan with a capacity of 60,000 spectators.
Who is taking part, in which mode is the game being played?
At the Africa Cup of Nations, 24 teams play against each other in six groups. The first and second place teams in each group qualify for the round of 16. The four best third-place teams then complete the round of the last 16 teams. The teams then fight for the title in a knockout system.
Six groups Group A Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria Group B Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique Group C Gambia, Guinea, Cameroon, Senegal Group D Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Mauritania Group E Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia Group F DR Congo, Morocco, Zambia, Tanzania
Boniface injured, Guirassy too – which Bundesliga players are there?
A total of 20 professionals from German clubs are in action at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and will therefore be missing from their clubs in the coming weeks. Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen have the most footballers with four, as can be seen from the squad lists published by the continental association CAF. Leverkusen’s top scorer Victor Boniface is nominated but will miss the tournament due to injury. Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy is also injured, but an exact diagnosis is still pending.
Bundesliga players at the Africa Cup Bayer 04 Leverkusen Victor Boniface (Nigeria – nominated but is out due to injury), Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) and Amine Adli (Morocco) Eintracht Frankfurt Fares Chaibi (Algeria), Omar Marmoush (Egypt) and Ellyes Skhiri (Tunisia) Borussia Dortmund Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria) and Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast) VfB Stuttgart Serhou Guirassy (Guinea – nominated, participation still unclear due to injury) and Silas (Congo) RB Leipzig Ilaix Moriba (Guinea ) and Amadou Haidara (Mali) Bayern Munich Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco, nominated despite calf injury) Werder Bremen Naby Keita (Guinea) Union Berlin Aissa Laidouni (Tunisia)
Who is the record holder and who is the favorite?
The record winner with seven titles is Egypt. This year too, the North African country is represented by superstar Mohamed Salah. The Egyptians won three consecutive editions between 2006 and 2010.
However, Senegal, with Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy, starts this year’s tournament as favorites and wants to defend their title from two years ago (penalty shootout against Egypt in the final).