AFCON 2021: Cameroon Set to know its opponents this Tuesday.

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

The draw for the 2021 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON will be conducted this Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at the Yaounde Conference Centre. 24 teams will be involved in the draws with host Cameroon looking for a good draw as they go for their fifth title.

Cameroon is seeded in Pot 1 which contains defending champions Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Nigeria. This means that Cameroon could be seeded against Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast during the draws.

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon lasted tasted victory in the competition back in 2017 when the country won against Egypt at the final. A late goal from striker Vincent Aboubaker was enough to seal the victory.

“Given the last performance of our team in the AFCON qualifiers, namely a defeat and a draw against Cape Verde, I keep my fingers crossed that we do not meet such teams, which we often refer to as a second-zone team," Abdoul Naaer Toupendi told CAF website.

“The opponents to avoid in my opinion are Egypt and Ghana in pot 2. They often caused us a lot of problems during the AFCON finals. In pot 3, we have to avoid the Gabonese neighbour with whom we have a political history. This Gabon is also made up of a fantastic attack with Pierre Aubameyang and Denis Bouanga,” He added.

In the same pot, there is Guinea Bissau which has always been difficult to beat. We remember one of the recent confrontations in 2017 with the famous Piqueti Djassi who created doubts in the minds through his masterful goal. In pot 4, we have to fear the Comoros who present themselves as the Madagascar of the last AFCON, not much into individual style, but a collective team resistant to tough opponents.”

Draw procedure

According to the Confederation of African Football, CAF, the top four teams will be allocated to pot 1 along with the host, Cameroon and titleholders Algeria. The remaining 18 teams will be allocated to the three remaining pots (2,3 and 4) according to their ranking in descending order.

T5he four pots representing the teams will be labelled pots 1 to 4. The six pots representing the groups will be labelled groups A to F. a ball from a team pot will be drawn, followed by a ball from one of the group pots, thus determining the position in which the respective team will play.

Cameroon will be pre-assigned to position A1 as host. The remaining five teams in pot 1 will automatically be drawn into position 1 of each group (B to F). the same procedure will be repeated for the remaining pots.