Izuchukwu OkosiGroup F Teams: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania
The overwhelming majority of people that saw this group straight away after the group stage draw last year tipped Morocco to ease past their opponents and progress from Group F.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Atlas Lions became the darling of African football after their 2022 FIFA World Cup exploits where they reached the semifinals of the tournament, the first time an African team will be reaching that far.
Ghana missed the opportunity in 2010 no thanks to the penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan and this has put the Moroccans on a different level altogether.
Majority of the players that achieved that feat are still part of the current squad headed for the Afcon in Cote d’Ivoire.
Hakim Ziyech, Yacine Bonou, Ashraf Hakimi and Sofyiat Amrabat are all present while there are new kids on the block too.
Former France youth international, Amine Adli, is one to look out for and could be one of the breakout talents of the tournament.
Aside their glorious 2022 World Cup exploits, the head coach Walid Regragui has two players to each position and that definetely bodes well for them.
For Zambia, they are a former champions of the Africa Cup of Nations, shocking the hosts of this year’s showpiece, Cote d’Ivoire complete with the superstar figure of Didier Drogba to lift the 2012 Afcon
With the promise of their players and the comradarie within the team knowing their past histories and the air disaster suffered in 1993 ahead of the 19th edition of the Afcon in 1994, we could see a set of Chipolopolo players doing their business passionately for the nation and not seekimg personal glories.
DR Congo is no longer a force on the continent as they were once known and called Zaire.
They do have a couple of resourceful players like Yoanne Wissa, Cedric Bakambu, Chancel Mbemba and Gael Kakuta to call upon.
In the pecking order, they don’t seem to be odds favourites for the top two places but hey, stranger things have happened in football.
As for Tanzania, head coach Adel Amrouche will be hoping to make bigger impacts than Nigeria’s Emmanuel Amuneke made as their coach to the 2019 Afcon in Egypt.
The Taifa Stars held Algeria to a scoreless draw in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in September of last year away at Annaba, Algeria, showing immense heart.
While only a few gives them a chance here, as we already know, nothing is absolutely shocking in this age of modern football.
Prime Business Africa’s Verdict: Expect Morocco to pick the group leadership. Zambia is expected to pick the second group ticket. They will however hope to face a relatively easier team in the round of 16.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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