AFCON Recap - Day 2: Nigeria, Egypt and Ghana enter the fray

Highlights: Côte d'Ivoire beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the opening game of the 2024 AFCON. Nigeria take on Equatorial Guinea in Group A. Egypt take on Mozambique in their Group B opener. Ghana take on Cape Verde in their final Group B match. Cameroon's star striker Vincent Aboubakar is injured and could miss the rest of the tournament. Click here to follow the AFCON's opening and closing ceremonies live on CNN.com.

The day after the opening of the 2024 AFCON and the successful start of the competition by Côte d'Ivoire, the competition increases in intensity on Sunday, with three matches on the schedule. Especially Mohamed's Egypt...

The program of the day

15 p.m.: Nigeria vs. Equatorial Guinea (Group A), our live stream

18 p.m.: Egypt v Mozambique (Group B), our live stream

21 p.m.: Ghana v Cape Verde (Group B), our live stream

Today's Poster

Group B favourites? No doubt. Favourites for AFCON 2024? A lot depends on Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian Pharaohs make their debut against Mozambique.

Despite a glorious past and a record seven titles, Egypt have suffered bitter failures in recent editions. Symbol of this curse is captain and superstar Mohamed Salah, who has won everything with Liverpool but is still waiting for the national team.

Read alsoMohamed Salah, finally time to shine with Egypt?

What happened yesterday

Cote d'Ivoire did not bow to pressure when it came to kicking off their Africa Cup of Nations on home soil. Facing a weak Guinea-Bissau in Group A, the Elephants won without putting themselves in danger thanks to goals from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso (2-0).

Read alsoWithout forcing, Côte d'Ivoire succeeds in its entry

The Statement

Jean-Louis Gasset, Ivory Coast coach: "It's hard to win in a full stadium, in front of your country, it's very difficult psychologically. [...] We're relieved of the burden of this first home game, this first high-pressure game, in front of our fans."

In brief

Record in sight for Andre Ayew: four-time champions Ghana are the other powerhouse in Group B along with Egypt. Among his best assets are the ever-loyal Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan. The eldest son of Abedi Pele will equal Cameroonian Rigobert Song's record with an 8th participation in the AFCON, and could well double it in the number of matches played in the competition. The current Cameroon coach has stopped at 34 matches, André Ayew is at 34 at the dawn of the tournament...

Morocco vs Egypt, war is declared: Morocco's Azzedine Ounahi set the powder keg on fire in a press conference: "Egypt, who have won seven AFCONs, don't produce a great game, but they are a team that manages. You can dominate, but they can score the 1-0 goal from a set piece and then one player falls on the right, then another on the left..." Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed's response to the shepherdess: "I didn't follow what Azzedine Ounahi said. We've won seven AFCONs, I invite him to play like us and win trophies." We are very hopeful of a duel between these two contenders for the trophy.

Vincent Aboubakar injured: big scare for the Indomitable Lions. Their star striker, the top scorer of the AFCON in 2022, was injured in training. Fecafoot is hoping for a return in about ten days. But in the meantime, Cameroon will have to get out of a very complicated group with Gambia, Guinea and especially the African champions Senegal.

Guinea-Bissau at the microphone of France 24

01:24

The image

The opening ceremony set the tone for this AFCON which simply aims to be "the most beautiful in history": in a supercharged atmosphere, the orange-clad spectators of the Ebimpé stadium sang the official song of the AFCON with the group Magic System and attended dance scenes celebrating the national culture and a country between tradition and modernity.

This week's recapFrance 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

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