There's also a rumor swarming around here in Qatar that it might get moved to erm.... here in Qatar. I know it may not go down well with the fans in Africa. However, they would get some practice with the stadiums and organization here. North African teams would have a huge advantage if this happens.
I honestly would love if they move AFCON over to a whole other country and especially if they move it to Qatar. I actually wouldn't mind that at all.
As for Nigeria my intuition tells me that their team will be able to play freely with Rohr gone. The shackles are off. We don't know yet whether Osimhen will be ready but regardless I think Nigeria will have a good tournament. I don't think they'll win it all but I could see them ending up losing finalists or yet again with the bronze.
While the teams are starting to announce their squads I looked at the knockout stage brackets. It's not only the venue that leaves me thinking that the North African teams won't be very successful this time. In my current brackets they would basically all eliminate each other. I would be very surprised to see more than one North African side in the semi-finals. It's just the brackets are not set up in their favour this time. If the group stage produces big shocks you can throw everything overboard what I said but as of now I don't see a stroy like Madagascar 2019 (they topped their group ahead of Nigeria) on the horizon. You never know though.
Dont be surprised if Ivory Coast wins this tournament. They are certainly flying under the radar after failing to qualify for the final round of world cup, and they have chosen a very strong squad. I thought that many of their top players might have opted out after their WC failure, but they have a very strong squad, and with North African teams not having the greatest success in Sub Saharan Africa, I could see CIV winning this tournament.
They are not the only team flying under the radar.... I made the mistake having picked them to qualify for Qatar based on their squad. Other than for the goalkeeper they have a complete squad. But they haven't clicked yet under Beaumelle. And I doubt they will anytime soon. Sébastien Haller is having an excellent season but unlike at Ajax he gets no quality delivery in the national team. He needs that. He's not a player who can make things happen out of nowhere. The supply from midfield has to improve if they want to stand any chance going deep let alone winning it all. It could be that the team wants to redeem themselves for failure in WCQ but they could also easily continue to dissappoint. My guess is as of now the latter.
As for Senegal I see only two possible outcomes this time. They will either (finally) lift the trophy or they will exit at the quarterfinals stage. I see nothing in between. There are question marks about Koulibaly and Ismaïla Sarr. Both are not fit as of now but they are in the squad. My final verdict on Senegal will be based on whether both would return on time for the big clashes and on my gut of course.
I've looked at the brackets and I'm predicting a final of Ivory Coast vs Morocco Morocco will beat Algeria in the quarters, and beat host Cameroon in the semis. Ivory Coast will finish their group 2nd behind Algeria, they will beat Senegal in the quarters and beat Ghana in the semis. My team Nigeria will finish our group 2nd behind Egypt and then lose to Algeria in the 2nd round. Ivory Coast will beat Morocco in the final.
I have as of now everything different than you but that's the beauty of this tournament. It's a tricky tournament to predict. Too many teams of similar strengh. It comes all down to who shows up. It's the first time I'll predict it. I could turn out right or I could fail miserably. I'll still wait. Not a fan of giving finalised predictions too early. The World Cup on the other hand is much more predictable.
to be honest i will be surprised if we reach the final . Vahid Halilhodzic dropped alot of good players (Ziyech, Mazraoui, ElArabi, Harit, Belhanda) and this infected our depth so badly, the other names not soo bad , but they are very young inexperienced players . Also many players will join the camp only after 3 january because of EPL and La Liga matches , That's why i will say don't expect too much for morocco.
Most squads are going to deal with the Jan 3 date and will have poor preparations. Yes the coach has cut a lot of good players but Morocco has been playing very well without them. The bracket will likely see Morocco meet Algeria in the quarters should they both top their groups which I fancy. I think Morocco will be motivated and will beat Algeria avenging the Arab cup loss and becoming the first team to beat Algeria in over 37 matches.
LOL even though I predict a Morocco v CIV final, with CIV winning, I've never before predicted an AFCON winner. This is the first time I'm predicting a not so obvious winner, which is probably more likely to be correct than the obvious favorite who never seems to win.
i i dont know. Some CAF refs are pretty bad too. there will be VAR throughout the entire tournament. Last time it was only the knockout rounds.
I would consider a semi-finals finish a good tournament for Morocco. I'm not decided yet whether they make it that far. I'm between quarterfinals and semi-finals exit. I have them playing your Nigeria team in the quarterfinals. Not sure who would get through that. Wow. Your confidence in your team must be very low. Nigeria is always stepping it up when they have their back against the wall. That's not exactly the case right now but they are going through a funk as you said. Eguaoven came in 2006 after failure in WCQ and he finished with bronze at AFCON. I could see a repeat of that. Nigeria has a very impressive track record in this competition. They medaled at AFCON in 15 out of 18 appearances. They got massive pedigree. They will not leave the tournament that early. As for Morocco yeah they have a very young and exciting team but it's now the first time they can prove under Halilhodzic if they are the big deal some people make them out to be. Destroying a qualfying group without any big opponent where you played all your games on top at home is nice but it doesn't tell us much about how Morocco will do against top caliber sides under high pressure. History is definately not on their side. They have not reached the last four since 2004.
It's really now or never for Senegal. If they don't win it this time I will place them into the same category as Belgium. Very talented side that teased us over years yet ended up without some silverware. Aliou Cissé said they are now stronger than in 2018 and also 2019. Well, we'll see if these are just empty words or he's right. It would be good for Senegal to avoid the North African teams. Three of four losses under Cissé against CAF teams came against Algeria and Morocco (that was a friendly though). And I think there's a good chance they don't meet any of them on their potential way to glory.
A team I expect to elevate their level is Mali. Many folks aren't giving them enough credit for the progress they made since last AFCON. I genuinely believe that they are a side capable of beating anyone in this tournament. Albeit it seems improbable for them to go all the way I see them leaving their mark with some nice football and at least a quarterfinals finish. I came out in October saying Mali would qualify for Qatar. I'm still hopeful. They have grown and matured and I think they can be the surprise of the playoffs.
It's quite simple Kam A new coach, no prep matches. Our first game against Egypt who had the prep of the Arab cup with at least half of their starters. Many of our players will be arriving just days before that match. We will be an unorganized mess. I dont see us beating them opening match. Draw at best. If we can't beat Egypt I don't see us topping the group which means by the bracket we are highly likely to meet Algeria in the 2nd round. Do you expect us to break their unbeaten streak ?
OK. I'll review my picks. Unlike you I had Nigeria topping their group. I know that's not necessarily a logic choice considering for the reasons you mentioned but I believe that their talent will propel them to a positive result against Egypt. I don't rate Egypt that highly.
I predict Nigeria's opener against Egypt to finish in a scoreless draw. The other teams in the group appear rubbish so which side between Nigeria/Egypt top the group should come down to who has scored more against them. As for Morocco, despite seeing them as the best side in CAF in many ways, I think they will go out on penalties either at the quarter-final or the semi-final. If its the latter, they will pick-up the bronze. Don't have a real sense about who will make the final and win the tournament, but I wouldn't be surprised if its one of these teams: Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast or maybe Nigeria.
I can relate to most what you said. I think Morocco will impress but winning it all seems probably a bridge too far. They have currently some COVID caces and their friendly with Cape Verdy was cancelled due to that. So far the preparation is far from ideal. Note that it's a very young squad without many experienced players. Ziyech isn't called up by the way. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (the talented youngster from Barcelona) declared that he won't accept the call up as he wants to play for Spain.... Playing as a young and rather inexperienced North African side in a Sub Saharian AFCON will be tough. Semi-finals would be a success for Morocco. Anything more would be amazing.