On 13th January, the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off as the host nation, Ivory Coast, takes on Guinea-Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
Heading into this year’s competition, Senegal are the holders for the first time in AFCON history having beaten record winners Egypt (7-time champions) at Olembe Stadium in Yaounde via penalties following a 0-0 draw.
Africa Cup of Nations - Group A | Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Equat Guinea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +6 | 7 | |
| 2 |  Nigeria | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 7 | |
| 3 |  Côte d'Ivoire | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Guinea-Bissau | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -5 | 0 | |
| Last updated 21/12/2024 | ||||||||
According to the bookmakers, Morocco will come into this competition as favourites due to their impressive showing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar where they recorded a fourth-place finish, the best performance of any African side in the competition’s history.
Walid Regragui’s men are the best-ranked team in the competition at 13th in the world and boast talents such as Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui, Sofyan Amrabat, Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Neyri, meaning that they have high-quality players all across the board.
Morocco suffered a quarter-final defeat to Egypt at the 2022 edition of this tournament, however, that was among the controversy caused by Vahid Halilhodžić who had fallen out with several key players of the squad. Since the arrival of Regragui, Morocco have found stability, having only lost three of 18 matches under his management, while memorably beating the likes of Spain and Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.
The Atlas Lions will take on the likes of DR Congo, Tanzania and Zambia in Group F.
Senegal are joint-favourites having managed to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first-time in their history when they beat Egypt in the final back in 2022, erasing memories of their 2019 final loss to Algeria.
Aliou Cisse’s men will be aiming to retain their status as the Kings of Africa and have a fairly tough group, as they have been paired with the likes of Cameroon, Guinea and Gambia in Group C.
The Lions of Teranga have a whole host of notable players among their ranks such as Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaliy, Pape Matar Sarr, Idrissa Gueye, Nicolas Jackson, Sadio Mane and Ismaila Sarr.
Senegal will be confident of performing well following consecutive appearances in the final of AFCON on top of the fact that they reached the Round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup where they were beaten 3-0 by England.
Algeria are the third outright favourites to become AFCON champions in 2024.
The Desert Warriors will be looking to significantly improve on their 2022 showing at this year’s competition, having embarrassingly been knocked out in Group E with just one point to their name, finishing behind the likes of the Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone.
One thing is for sure, Algeria have an abundance of talent at their disposal, with the likes of Riyad Mahrez who finished as the second top scorer at AFCON with 3 goals when they emerged victorious in 2019. As well as the ex-Manchester City winger, Algeria also have many other notable players such as Youcef Atal, Rayan Ait Nouri, Ramy Bensebaini and Houssem Aouar.
Djamel Belmadi’s men will face off against the likes of Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Angola in Group D of this year’s competition.
The host nation of this year’s AFCON competition are also priced at 7/1 and will be hoping to take full advantage of familiar venues and large home crowds.
In terms of FIFA World Ranking, the Ivory Coasts’ 49th place does seem rather low considering the talent that they possess, such as Ousmane Diomande, Evans Ndicka, Odilon Kossounou, Ibrahim Sangare, Sebastien Haller and more. However, this is mainly due to the fact that they failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while bowing out at the Round of 16 to Egypt via penalties following a 0-0 draw.
This time around, they are under the management of Jean-Louis Gasset, who has overseen 14 matches in charge of The Elephants, winning nine, drawing three and losing just twice. One of Gasset’s most memorable managerial achievements was when he took Saint-Etienne to sixth and fourth-place finishes in Ligue 1 between 2017 and 2019.
Cote d’Ivoire will go up against Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in Group A.
Record 7-time AFCON champions Egypt are next up at 9/1, having been beaten finalists in the 2017 and 2022 editions of this competition.
The Pharaohs also failed to reach the 2022 World Cup, but, do have a good record in this competition and certainly can’t be ruled out when considering how difficult of a side they are to break down, having recorded five clean sheets in the 2022 of AFCON while having the likes of Mohamed Elneny, Mohamed Salah, Trezeguet and Omar Marmoush in their starting line-up.
Egypt have been drawn to play Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group B and are the favourites to win their group with the odds of 8/11.
The Indomitable Lions are one of the most prestigious footballing nations in this competition having emerged victorious on five separate occasions and are even managed by record appearance maker Rigobert Song who earned a staggering 137 caps.
Despite failing to qualify for the knockout stages at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Cameroon did provide viewers with plenty of entertainment as they memorably drew 3-3 with Serbia and sensationally scored a 92nd-minute winner through Vincent Aboubakar to win 1-0.
In the 2022 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon were beaten semi-finalists as they lost to Egypt on penalties after a 0-0 draw. This was despite their impressive attacking displays, where they fired in 11 goals in the five matches running up to their elimination.
Cameroon have many talented players among their ranks, with goalkeeper Andre Onana set to play at the tournament having made up with the management of the national side, while the Indomitable Lions will also be able to field the likes of Harold Moukoudi, Jean Charles Castelleto, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Aboubakar and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.
Song’s men are in a potentially tricky-looking Group C, where they’ll face reigning champions Senegal, as well as Guinea and Gambia.
Nigeria will be hopeful of having success at AFCON for the first time in 11 years, with the Super Eagles having one of the strongest squads at the competition.
Jose Peseiro's men have the likes of English-based quartet Calvin Bassey, Frank Onyeka, Joe Aribo and Frank Onyeka in their roster, as well as supreme attacking talents such as Samuel Chukwueze, Ademola Lookman, Victor Boniface and Victor Osimhen to rely on when it comes to goalscoring.
At the 2022 edition of AFCON, Nigeria suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Tunisia in the Round of 16 having previously shown promising signs when they topped Group D ahead of Egypt. This time around, they’ll be competing in Group A against the Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Tunisia will be aiming to win AFCON for just the second time in their nation’s history when they travel to the Ivory Coast to take part in this year’s championship.
The Eagles of Carthage finished third in Group F at the 2022 tournament behind Mali and Gambia, but, ahead of Mauritania and have shown some promise since then, having earned four points in Group D of the FIFA World Cup via a 0-0 draw with Denmark and a 1-0 victory over then reigning world champions, France.
Jalel Kadri’s men will be without Hannibal Mejbri who withdrew from their squad in order to find a loan move away from Manchester United, however, Tunisia still have an abundance of quality, with the likes of Yan Valery, Anis Ben Slimane, Ellyes Skhiri and Elias Achouri all being selected for this competition.
Ghana will enter this competition under the management of a familiar face in Chris Hughton, with the ex-Newcastle and Brighton coach competing in his first AFCON tournament.
At the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Black Stars were bitterly disappointing, finishing bottom of Group C behind Comoros, Gabon and Morocco. This time around, they will go head-to-head with Egypt, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group B.
Prior to this tournament, Ghana were handed a blow as Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey was ruled out of their squad due to injury, however, it should not be forgotten that Hughton’s men have a lot of quality in their side, with the likes of Alexander Djiku, Mohammed Kudus, Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew, Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams all being named in the squad.
Mali will be aiming to win their first AFCON tournament when they travel to the Ivory Coast for this year’s edition.
The Eagles are ironically managed by Ivorian-born former Mali international Eric Chelle who has them in good shape heading into this year’s championship, having won 10 and drawn two of his 13 matches in charge.
In 2022, Mali made it to the Round of 16 where they were knocked out by Equatorial Guinea on penalties after a 0-0 draw. This was despite topping a group that consisted of Gambia, Tunisia and Mauritania.
Chelle’s squad will be a tough one to beat, as there are many talented stars among Mali’s ranks, with the likes of Yves Bissouma, Amadou Haidara, Hamari Traore, Sikou Niakate and Boubacar Traore all travelling to the tournament.
DR Congo's Odds: 33/1
Burkina Faso's Odds: 50/1
South Africa's Odds: 50/1
Guinea's Odds: 66/1
Zambia's Odds: 66/1
Cape Verde's Odds: 100/1
Gambia's Odds: 100/1
Angola's Odds: 150/1
Equatorial Guinea's Odds: 150/1
Tanzania's Odds: 150/1
Mauritania's Odds: 200/1
Guinea Bissau's Odds: 200/1
Namibia's Odds: 200/1
Mozambique's Odds: 200/1
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