Eagles’ AFCON 2021 Opponents to Emerge at Tonight’s Draw in Yaounde

*Tipped to draw Egypt, Cape Verde, Comoros

Femi Solaja

After the initial postponement occasioned by protocol reasons, the much awaited draw ceremony of AFCON 2021 tournament would be staged this evening with Nigeria’s Super Eagles in Pot 1 tipped to face seven-time winners Egypt (Pot 2), 2022 FIFA World Cup foes Cape Verde (Pot 3) and the gritty and gutsy Comoros team that recently achieved a first-ever qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations (Pot 4).

At the ceremony scheduled to hold at the le Palais des Congrés in Yaoundé, Cameroon tonight, three-time champions Nigeria’s Super Eagles are among the six teams seeded among the contesting 24 teams.

All teams in the same pot are to avoid one another but they could be drawn against any in the other pots, so no one can rule out the likelihood of the Eagles clashing with the Pharaohs, the Blue Sharks and surprise packets Coelacanths.

Being grouped in Pot 1 together means the Eagles, who picked up the bronze medals at the last edition in Egypt two years ago, will avoid Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions (five-time champions), Senegal’s Lions of the Teranga (Africa’s number one-ranked team), Tunisia (2004 champions and Africa’s number two-ranked team), Cup holders Algeria (now ranked number three in Africa) and 1976 winners Morocco (now ranked fourth in Africa, a step above the Super Eagles).

The draw ceremony is to formally kick-starts preparations for all teams concerned. However, the disruption caused by the global coronavirus pandemic means the AFCON 2021 is now to hold between 9th January and 6th February 2022, with the qualifying series of the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals yet to be concluded before the AFCON.

The knockout rounds for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 holds in March 2022.

Most of the teams involved in Cameroon 2021 will be using the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers as preparatory sessions, with six tough games to negotiate between September and November, and only the last week of December and the first week of January open for any camping programme.

Ghana, who have four titles from the AFCON but have not won the trophy in the last 39 years, are in Pot 2 alongside Egypt, 2015 champions Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea.

THE POTS:

Pot 1: Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria

Pot 2: Egypt, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea

Pot 3: Cape Verde, Gabon, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone

Pot 4: Malawi, Sudan, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, The Gambia