AFCON 2019: Dates, fixtures, groups and players to watch

The 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations commences on June 21st and will be staged in six stadiums across Egypt with the final on July 19th.

The 32nd edition of the Confederation of African Football Cup of Nations 2019 kicks-off this Friday (June 21st ) with host nation Egypt facing Zimbabwe in Cairo. The tournament will be staged in the cities of Suez, Ismalia, Alexandria and three grounds in the capital Cairo with the final taking place on July 14 at the 75,000 capacity Cairo International Stadium.

Groups

24 teams will participate in the competition with three sides making their debut at an Africa Cup of Nations tournament: Mauritania, Burundi and Madagascar.

Group A: Egypt, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Uganda

Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Burundi and Madagascar

Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Tanzania and Kenya

Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, Namibia and South Africa 

Group E: Tunisia, Angola, Mauritania and Mali

Group F: Ghana, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau and Benin

16 sides will progress to the next stage with with the top two sides from each group being joined by four of the best third placed sides.

Full fixture list here:

Favourites

Host nation Egypt start as one of the leading favourites to lift the trophy in mid July with all local hopes deposited on Liverpool Champions League winner Mo Salah. The "Egyptian King" will be assisted by captain El Mohamady who helped Aston Villa secure Premier League status.

Second favourites Ghana will inevitably look to add to their four CAN wins (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) with the "Black Stars" to be captained by Andre Ayew. The tournament will see the return of Asamoah Gyan who originally quit the national team over the captaincy issue, only to reverse his decision after speaking to the country's president, Nana Akufo-Addo.

Senegal boast two of the finest players at the competition in Napoli defender Kaliodou Koulibaly and Liverpool striker Sadio Mane. Cloud this be the year where the 2002 runners-up finally claim their maiden CAF conquest?

Egypt 5/1 - Ghana 7/1 - Senegal 7/1 (via Bet365)

Full selection of betting prices here:

Three players to watch:

Nicolas Pepe: Ivory Coast

Pepe is set to become one of Europe’s hottest properties this summer after the 23-year-old exploded this season in Ligue 1 bagging 19 goals and providing 11 assists in 32 games with strong rumours linking the player with a move to Liverpool.

Idrissa Gana Gueye: Senegal

The Senegalese midfielder has impressed this season with Premier League outfit Everton and is touted to be one of the key players for "The Lions of Teranga" in Egypt this summer. 

Achraf Hakimi: Morocco

Still only 20 years old, the Moroccan international has seen his career blossom after a season on loan with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund. The versatile defender was one of Morocco's better players at the Russia 2018 World Cup and has been capped 14 times at senior level.   

Africa Cup of Nations viewing

The 2019 Cup of Nations is available in most nations through the rights holders' online platform, if they have one. Your best bet is to check who is showing the game in your country, and if they have an online service or iOS/Android app to watch it on.

2019 CAN in the USA: Games can be seen on: BeIn Sports US & Fanatiz US

2019 CAN in UK/Ireland: Eurosport EU have rights for the tournament

2019 CAN in Spain: Eurosport 1 and 2 will show the tournament in it's entirety