CHAN 2024: Super Eagles Team B Draws Champions, Senegal, Congo and Sudan
Femi Solaja
The draw for the 2024 African Nations Championship has thrown up intriguing fixtures for Nigeria Super Eagles-B.
The Nigerian team managed to avoid the three co-hosts of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but will have to contend with stiff opponents from the defending champions and African powerhouse, Senegal in Group D.
They also have Congo, two-time quarterfinalists to contend with. The other team in Group D is Sudan, a two-time third-place finisher.
Kenya, debutant and one of the three host countries even has a more daunting challenge in Group A.
They will face two teams who are two-time champions, Morocco and DR Congo. In addition, they will face Angola, runners-up in 2011 and Zambia, third-place finishers at the inaugural edition in 2009.
Kenya becomes the 34th country to feature at the African Nations Championship. Group A where the Kenyans will be competing has five teams.
In Group B, Tanzania, another host country will be facing the quartet of Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic
Group C has the third host nation, Uganda along with Niger Republic, Guinea and two other teams that will emerge from the second-tier qualifying series.
Earlier in the day, CAF had announced that the tournament winner would receive U.S.$3.5 million dollars – an increment of 75% of the initial reward.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe said the tournament “is an important competition for the development and growth of Africa-based football players and talented young players and will contribute significantly to the global competitiveness of African football and CAF Competitions”.
Motsepe said it is part of a strategy to invest in African football and make it “appealing and attractive to football fans”.
17 countries have qualified for the competition in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
THE GROUPS
- Group A: Kenya, Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, Zambia
- Group B: Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic
- Group C: Uganda, Niger, Guinea, Q2, Q1,
- Group D: Senegal, Congo, Sudan, Nigeria.
