AFCON 2022: 24 Teams to Compete for the Prestigious Title of “African Cup Champion”

The 2022 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, officially CAN (French: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations), also referred to as AFCON, is planned to take place in Cameroon starting this Sunday January 9, 2022.

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place between 9 January and 6 February 2021, but was delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Over the next month, a total of 24 teams will take the stage in pursuit of being crowned Champions of Africa. Algeria, the current Cup Champion, will be looking to defend their title.

The 24 selected teams are split into six groups of four teams each. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the four highest ranked third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16. The round of 16 winners will advance to the quarter-finals and the quarter-final winners will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final losers will play in a third place match, while the semi-final winners will contest the final.

AFCON 2022 Groups

Group A Group B Group C
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cape Verde
  • Cameroon
  • Ethiopia
  • Guinea
  • Malawi
  • Senegal
  • Zimbabwe
  • Comoros
  • Gabon
  • Ghana
  • Morocco
Group D Group E  Group F
  • Egypt
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Nigeria
  • Sudan
  • Algeria
  • Ivory Coast
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Sierra Leone
  • Gambia
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Tunisia

African superstars such as Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Sadio Mane (Senegal) are all set to represent their countries at the event.  

COVID-19 Precaution measures

Agreements were met between CAF and the local organizing committee that Cameroon’s matches will be played in front of 80 percent of the stadium’s capacity due to the pandemic, while capacity at the other games will be limited to no more than 60 percent. Additionally, spectators would need to bring proof of vaccination, as well as a negative PCR test result. All players would be tested continually during the event, according to CAF.

AFCON 2022  tournament’s lion mascot Mola has been going around the streets of Yaounde.

SCHEDULE

CAF has released the official match schedule for the tournament. The first match will be played on Sunday, 09 January 2022 at Olembe Stadium between hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso at 17h00 local time (16h00 GMT). 

Please find attached the full schedule. 

AFCON Match Schedule [PDF]

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