The Arab teams face a new challenge when the African Nations Cup competitions kick off in Cameroon on Sunday, in light of the fierce competition expected from the rest of the continent's teams.
After winning 12 titles out of a total of 32 copies of the tournament, which launched its first edition in Sudan in 1957, Arab football aspires to retain the title for the second time in a row, as Algeria won the last edition that was held in Egypt in 2019, but the task will not be easy in light of the strong competition of teams. In the championship, the size of Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.
This edition is witnessing a record appearance of Arab football in the African Nations, with the participation of 7 out of the 9 Arab teams that participated in the qualifiers for the competition, whose finals will be held from January 9 to February 6.
This is the largest number of Arab teams participating in a single edition of the tournament.
It is noted that all five Arab teams that have previously won the African Nations Cup are participating in the next edition, which raises hopes of rising to the podium again.
title holder
The Algerian national team - the defending champion - is at the forefront of the Arab teams nominated to win the tournament, thanks to the amazing results it achieved in the recent period led by its national coach Jamal Belmadi, who led the "Desert Warriors" to win the last edition of the competition.
The Algerian national team includes a group of professional stars in European stadiums, led by Riyad Mahrez, the English star of Manchester City, Ismail Bennasser of the Italian Milan, Adam Ounass of the Italian Naples, and the veteran Sofian Feghouli of the Turkish Galatasaray player.
The Algerian team is looking forward to breaking the world record as the most avoided team in consecutive matches, which the Italian team currently holds, as the companions of top scorer Islam Slimani maintained their record unbeaten in 34 consecutive matches, only 3 games away from the equation of the crowned Italy team number. The European Nations Cup (Euro 2020) last summer.
The "unbeatable" series for the Algerian national team - which is participating for the 19th time in the African Nations - began in November 2018, when it beat the Togo team 4-1, to continue its positive results in various competitions, the last of which was its 3-0 victory over its Ghanaian counterpart in a friendly Last Wednesday, in preparation for the Nations of Africa.
The Algerian team - ranked 29th in the world and third in Africa, according to the latest international classification of teams issued by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) - hopes to win the tournament for the third time in its history, as it also previously won the title when it hosted the competition in its stadiums in 1990.
Algeria plays in Group E in the group stage, accompanied by teams: Ivory Coast, crowned champions in 1992 and 2015, Equatorial Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
Salah and the pharaohs
The Egyptian team is one of the candidates to win the tournament, which holds the record for the number of times won with 7 titles, as it plays in Group D, accompanied by: Nigeria, Sudan and Guinea Bissau.
The "grandchildren of the Pharaohs" rely a lot on the star Mohamed Salah, the top scorer of Liverpool, who is on the final list of candidates for the 2021 FIFA World Player of the Year award,
accompanied by Argentine magician Lionel Messi and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.
Salah - who is performing exceptionally with Liverpool this season, led him to the top scorer in the English Premier League currently with 16 goals, and 6 goals ahead of his closest followers - to continue his brilliance with the Egypt team, after he led him to reach the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia After an absence of 28 years, and for the final match in the 2017 African Nations in Gabon.
The Egyptian team, led by Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, wants to bring a smile back to the faces of its fans, after the disappointment they suffered after their early exit from the last edition of the competition hosted by their stadiums, with a 1-0 loss against South Africa in the final price.
And the Egyptian team, which also holds the record as the most popular team in the history of the African Nations with 25 participation, gained a good momentum, after it qualified for the final stage of the qualifications for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Tunisia and the absent title
As for the Tunisian team, led by its national coach, Munther Al-Kabir, it seeks to regain the title, which has been absent from its treasures for 18 years, after it was crowned once when it hosted the tournament in 2004, where it plays in Group F with: Mali, Mauritania and Gambia.
The "Carthage Eagles" team reassured its fans before participating in the African forum, after its positive return in the Arab Cup, which was hosted by the Qatari capital, Doha last month, and witnessed its qualification for the final match, despite the absence of many of its prominent stars in European stadiums, led by veteran midfielder Wahbi Khazri. .
Tunisia, which has maintained its permanent seat in the Nations Cup for the 15th consecutive edition, to be the record holder in the number of consecutive appearances in the tournament, wants to achieve an achievement that exceeds the fourth place it got in the last edition two and a half years ago.
The Tunisian team, ranked 30th in the world and fourth in Africa, did not face the slightest difficulty in advancing to the finals of the African Nations, as it scored the largest number of points among the teams participating in the qualifiers, with 16 points from its group that included Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Tanzania, achieving 5 victories and a single draw.
Moroccan dream
The Moroccan team dreams of dedicating the title to its fans after it was previously crowned once in 1976 in Ethiopia, where it plays in the third group in the first round, which includes the teams: Ghana (4 titles for the championship), Comoros and Gabon.
And the "Atlas Lions", led by their Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic, issued a stern warning to his competitors about coming strongly to compete for the championship, especially after his impressive appearance in the World Cup qualifiers.
The Moroccan team - which is ranked 28 globally and second in Africa in the FIFA rankings - was the only one who reached the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers, after achieving the full mark in his group that included: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sudan, by winning all six of his meetings in the group.
Focused 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/GPF2z65cvq
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) January 5, 2022
The Moroccan team aspires to erase the fading image that it appeared in the last edition of the African Nations, which witnessed its surprisingly early exit from the final price by losing against its Benin counterpart on penalties.
The Moroccan team is missing its two stars, Hakim Ziyech and Nasir Mazraoui, Chelsea and Ajax Amsterdam players, respectively, for "discipline reasons", according to Khaliluzic, while Abdel Samad Zalzouli, a promising Barcelona player, refused to join the team's list now, preferring to stay with the Catalan club to install his feet with him.
Divergent goals
It seems different for the rest of the Arab football representatives in the tournament (Sudan, Mauritania and Comoros), as their goals in the competition are limited to crossing the group stage only.
The Sudanese team, which won the championship in 1970, suffered from some problems in the recent period, after its disappointing participation in the Arab Cup, which witnessed its early exit from the group stage. Africa, and the assumption of national coach Burhan Teh technical leadership as his successor.
The Sudanese team, which is participating for the ninth time in the African Nations, achieved a surprise of the highest caliber by returning to the finals after an absence of 10 years, despite the difficulty of its group in the qualifiers that included Nigeria and South Africa, where it ranked second qualifying for the tournament, at the expense of South Africa, which came in third place .
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The national team performs its second training session in the city of Qarawa in preparation for the start of the journey in the African Nations Cup
— SFA-Sudan Football Association (@SFA1936) January 7, 2022
For his part, the Mauritanian national football team makes its second consecutive appearance in the tournament, as it plays in Group F, which includes: Tunisia, Mali and Gambia.
Despite the lack of experience, the "Al Mourabitoun" team achieved good results in the group stage of the last tournament, where it drew with Tunisia and Angola, but its loss to its Malian counterpart caused the end of its dreams to continue its adventure.
On the other hand, the Comoros team is competing in the tournament for the first time in its history, becoming the 44th team that participates in the history of the tournament, after occupying second place in its qualifying group, which included the teams of Egypt, Kenya and Togo.
Perhaps the Comoros team hopes to be among the top 4 third-placed teams in the six groups in order to advance to the playoffs, as Morocco and Ghana are strong candidates for the first and second places in their group rankings in the first round.