Who Will Win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations?
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The competition will take place from 2 June until 19 July in Egypt. A few favorites have arisen in the months leading up to the tournament. You can see the odds for each team on sport.netbet.co.uk. Today, we will go through all the biggest favorites to see who is most likely to win the tournament. But first, let’s talk about Zimbabwe and their chances.
This is the fourth time in Zimbabwe soccer history that they were able to qualify for this tournament. So, the fact that they even qualified is a major step forward and everything else could just be a bonus. You can expect Zimbabwe to play freely and openly as they have absolutely no pressure to do anything significant. However, soccer in Zimbabwe has been on the rise lately so we wouldn’t be too surprised if they made it out of the group. Now, let’s take a look at the favorites.
Egypt
Appearing in the same group as Zimbabwe are the hosts Egypt. Having the best player in the tournament Mo Salah makes the hosts a definite favorite to win. They have a record of 7 wins in this tournament and they are the team to beat this year too. After a disappointing World Cup in which they crashed out in the group stage, mostly because of the injury to their best player who missed the tournament, the Pharaohs will look to bounce back in the African Cup. Under new coach, Javier Aguirre, they started playing entertaining soccer, scoring 20 times in their last 8 matches, but their defense isn’t the strongest and is often exposed due to their attacking play. Anything less than a win would be a huge disappointment for Egypt.
Senegal
The second main favorite is Senegal. They are currently the best ranked African nation according to FIFA, and they have some amazing players. If Egypt wasn’t hosting the tournament, Senegal would definitely be the team to beat. Surprisingly, Senegal has never won this tournament, and with the quality that they possess, they will surely be very disappointed to come out empty handed once again. Up front, they have Mo Salah’s running mate, Sadio Mane, who will probably be one of the top scorers along with his Liverpool colleague. However, tournaments are won with a strong defense, and there aren’t many better defenders than Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, who will lead what is most likely the best backline in the tournament.
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Nigeria
As our third team, we chose Nigeria. They have lightning-fast wingers and creative attacking players, as well as a rock in the middle in Wilfred Ndidi. They got lucky in the draw, facing Guinea and debutants Madagascar and Burundi in the group stage, which will serve as great preparation for the playoff stage. Nigeria surprisingly failed to qualify for the last to ACOF tournaments, but the last time they did, they won, and they are a strong contender this year too.
