Ghana’s Black Stars discovered their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) fate Friday night as they got drawn into Group F together defending champions Cameroon, as well as West African neighbours Benin and Guinea Bissau.
Coach Kwasi Appiah’s side other top seeds like hosts Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia for a relatively tricky but manageable group.
“We have the defending champions in our group. Benin and Guinea Bissau are all strong teams and for them to qualify means they are doing very well.
“The most important thing is that we need to prepare very well to give out good games against any team,” Appiah said immediately after the draw.
Ghana, who will be hoping to end a 37-year Afcon trophy drought this year, kick off their Afcon against Benin in Ismalia on June 25.
The Black Stars’ next game comes, also in Ismalia, four days later against Cameroon – the central Africans who denied Ghana a place in the final of the Gabon 2017 Afcon.
Ghana will however travel to Suez for their last game in Group F against Guinea Bissau on July 2
Tournament format
Egypt 2019, the 32nd edition, will be the first 24-team Cup of Nations – increased from 16.
The groupings, are six of four teams each with the top two automatically advancing to the knockout second round stage. The 12 countries will however be joined by four best third-placed teams from the group stage.
Following the eight second-round fixtures, will be the quarterfinals, semifinals, a third-place playoff and the final.
The 2019 Afcon kicks off on June 21 with an Egypt vs Zimbabwe tournament opener. The tournament will run through to July 19.
FINALLY! #TotalAFCON2019 groups are here! ?
Which is the most exciting group? ? pic.twitter.com/LNeByDBlsn
— CAF (@CAF_Online) April 12, 2019
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