Naby Keita, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah chase AFCON glory as they look all set to feature for their respective countries. Keita, Mane and Salah will represent Guinea, Senegal and Egypt respectively in the 33rd edition of the African competition.
Cameroon will be the host country for the tournament this year and the competition runs from January 9 to February 6. We will see 24 nations battling it out forming six groups to claim the crown.
The top two teams from each group qualify for the last 16. Alongside them would be the best four third-placed finishers. This will be a great contest as we find many big names involved in this competition.
The opening fixture is bound to take place at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde. The same venue will also host the final. Here are some of the key details of Keita, Mane and Salah’s involvement in the tournament:
Africa Cup of Nations – Fixtures
Group B
Naby Keita’s Guinea and Sadio Mane’s Senegal are drawn in the same group. Here are the big fixtures to watch out for:
Senegal v Zimbabwe (January 10 – 1 pm)
Guinea v Malawi (January 10 – 4 pm)
Senegal v Guinea (January 14 – 1 pm)
Malawi v Senegal (January 18 – 4 pm)
Zimbabwe v Guinea (January 18 – 4 pm)
Naby Keita and Sadio Mane will face each other in their second fixture of the group. It will be great to see both these Reds go head-to-head as they compete for glory.
Group D
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt are placed in group D. Their opponents will be:
Nigeria v Egypt (January 11 – 4 pm)
Guinea-Bissau v Egypt (January 15 – 7 pm)
Egypt v Sudan (January 19 – 7 pm)
Salah and his fellow teammates will be hoping to secure the eighth Africa Cup of Nations title. We will have to wait and watch if that happens.
AFCON – History
AFCON has had a wonderful history with dramatic stories. Let us look at how Senegal, Guinea and Egypt have featured in the past.
Senegal faced defeat in the previous AFCON final in 2019 where Algeria won 1-0 over them. VAR denied Senegal a penalty in the second half and thus came the despair. Guinea on the other hand lost in the last 16 to eventual winners by 3-0.
Both these nations are chasing their first triumph in the contest. Senegal have been runners-up in 2002 and 2019, whereas Guinea’s only appearance in the final was in 1976.
Egypt hosted the tournament in 2019. They lost in the last 16 stages after losing 1-0 to South Africa. In 65 years of history of this competition, Egypt have won the crown 7 times, the last one being in 2010. Therefore, Egypt stands as the most successful side in this competition.
Egypt last played the final in 2017 where they went down to Cameroon 2-1 in the late-minute winner.
Anfield Home wishes good luck to the Liverpool trio. However, Liverpool will now have to manage without Salah, Mane and Keita for almost a month.
