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The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals officially got underway at Cairo International Stadium on Friday with the hosts, Egypt, putting up some impressive opening ceremony display.
July 19 is the day we shall know who has lasted the distance, with several heavyweights favourites to clinch Africa’s most coveted football trophy.
Egypt, who opened their campaign against Zimbabwe Friday night, will hope for déjà vu. The last time they hosted the event in 2006, they won it; their first of three back-to-back Afcon titles.
Four Afcon tournaments have since seen four different winners. There could yet be another surprise winner this year. Here is what to expect at this year’s edition in Egypt, who won hosting rights after Cameroon failed to meet requirements on time.
For the first time in the tournament’s history, this edition is being held during the European summer, news that was well welcomed by European teams. The finals have been held in January/February all these years, which always left European clubs, players and countries at war. The likes of Liverpool’s Sadio Mané (Senegal) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) can now play without worrying about their clubs back in England.
Another first in Egypt is the increased number of competing teams. The tournament was expanded from 16 to 24 teams at a Caf Symposium in Morocco in 2017, which sitting also confirmed the shifting of the finals from January-February to June-July. The 24 qualified teams are drawn into six groups of four, with the top two and best four third-placed advancing to the last 16.
There is a new sheriff in town. Mr. Video Assistant Referee, popularly known as VAR, will play the watchman at this event. It will, however, make its debut in the quarterfinals. The system was introduced to eliminate controversial refereeing decisions, but it has received its fair share of criticism from across the divide. One will hope Caf do not leave themselves in the same farce experienced in the Caf Champions League final, when the system malfunctioned.
The champion of this year’s edition will take home $4.5m (Sh450 million), a slight increase from Gabon 2017. Runners-up will pocket $2.5m (Sh250 million), semifinalists: $2m (Sh200 million), quarterfinalists: $800,000 (Sh80 millon) and group stage: $475,000 (Sh47.5 million).
Egypt are natural fits for this both as hosts and the undisputed seven-time champions. They also have arguably the continent’s best player in Mohamed Salah.
You can expect the Pharaohs to have a strong say in this. Sadio Mane’s Senegal, Andre Ayew’s Ghana and Alex Iwobi’s Nigeria complete that cast likely to produce a champion.
Madagascar, Burundi and Mauritania will be making their debuts at the tournament. Madagascar surprised many by being among the first to qualify in October 2018, while Mauritania secured their ticket a month later with a game to spare. Burundi threw up the biggest surprise, piping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon on the final day to confirm their ticket.
