Africa’s biggest international association football competition is back!

The 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021, has kicked off in Cameroon on January 9, 2021.

The tournament began in 1957 and has been held every two years since 1968. It will end on February 6, 2022

Competing animals:

This year’s tournament will see 24 A countries competing to lift the trophy and be crowned the Champion of Africa.

Some of these countries are, however, known by different nicknames, which are surprisingly derived from names of popular animals.

Here are the animals clashing in Afcon’s jungle over the next three weeks.

The Super Eagles Eagles – Nigeria
The Indomitable Lions– Cameroon
The Atlas Lions – Morocco
The Teranga Lions – Senegal
The Elephants – Ivory Coast
The Squirrels – Benin
Palancas Negras (Giant Antelopes) – Angola
The Leopards – DR Congo
The Fennec Foxes – Algeria
The Djurtus (Wild dogs) – Guinea-Bissau
Carthage Eagles – Tunisia
The Eagles of Mali

Others:

Burkina Faso
Zimbabwe
Egypt
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Cape Verde
Mauritania
Malawi
Ghana
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Comoros

AFCON 2021 group-stage fixtures

Sunday, January 9

Group A: Cameroon 2-1 Burkina Faso

Group A: Ethiopia 0-1 Cape Verde

Monday, January 10

Group B: Senegal vs Zimbabwe, 1pm (Kouekong Stadium)

Group B: Guinea vs Malawi, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium)

Group C: Morocco vs Ghana, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo)

Group C: Comoros vs Gabon, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo)

Tuesday January 11

Group E: Algeria vs Sierra Leone, 1pm (Japoma Stadium)

Group D: Nigeria vs Egypt, 4pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium)

Group D: Sudan vs Guinea-Bissau, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium)

Wednesday January 12

Group F: Tunisia vs Mali, 1pm (Limbe Stadium)

Group F: Mauritania vs Gambia, 4pm (Limbe Stadium)

Group E: Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast (Japoma Stadium)

Thursday, January 13

Group A: Cameroon vs Ethiopia, 4 pm (Olembe Stadium)

Group A: Cape Verde vs Burkina Faso, 7 pm (Olembe Stadium)

Friday, January 14

Group B: Senegal vs Guinea, 1 pm (Kouekong Stadium)

Group B: Malawi vs Zimbabwe, 4 pm (Kouekong Stadium) Group C: Morocco vs Comoros, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo)

Group C: Gabon vs Ghana, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo)

Saturday, January 15

Group D: Nigeria vs Sudan, 4pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium)

Group D: Guinea-Bissau vs Egypt, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium)

Sunday, January 16

Group F: Gambia vs Mali, 1 pm (Limbe Stadium)

Group E: Ivory Coast vs Sierra Leone, 4 pm (Japoma Stadium)

Group F: Tunisia vs Mauritania, 4 pm (Limbe Stadium)

Group E: Algeria vs Equatorial Guinea, 7 pm (Japoma Stadium)

Monday, January 17

Group A: Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia, 4 pm (Kouekong Stadium)

Group A: Cape Verde vs Cameroon, 4 pm (Olembe Stadium)

Tuesday, January 18

Group B: Malawi vs Senegal, 4 pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam)

Group B: Zimbabwe vs Guinea, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde)

Group C: Gabon vs Morocco, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde)

Group C: Ghana vs Comoros, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua)

Wednesday, January 19

Group D: Egypt vs Sudan, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde)

Group D: Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua)

Thursday, January 20

Group E: Ivory Coast vs Algeria, 4 pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala)

Group E: Sierra Leone vs Equatorial Guinea, 4 pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe)

Group F: Gambia vs Tunisia, 7pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe) – Group F: Mali vs Mauritania, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) –

Sunday, January 23

Game 1: Group A runner-up vs Group C runner-up, 4pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe)

Game 2: Group D winner vs Group B/E/F third-place, 7 pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua)

Monday January 24

Game 3: Group B runner-up vs Group F runner-up, 4 pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam)

Game 4: Group A winner vs Group C/D/E third-place, 7 pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde)

Tuesday, January 25

Game 5: Group B winner vs Group A/C/D third-place, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam)

Game 6: Group C winner vs Group A/B/F third-place, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde)

Wednesday, January 26

Game 7: Group E winner vs Group D runner-up, 4pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala)

Game 8: Group F winner vs Group E runner-up, 7pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe)

Saturday, January 29

Quarter-final 1: Round-of-16 game 4 winner vs Round-of-16 game 3 winner, 4 pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala)

Quarter-final 2: Round-of-16 game 1 winner vs Round-of-16 game 2 winner, 7 pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua)

Sunday, January 30

Quarter-final 3: Round-of-16 game 7 winner vs Round-of-16 game 6 winner, 4 pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde)

Quarter-final 4: Round-of-16 game 5 winner vs Round-of-16 game 8 winner, 7 pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala)

Wednesday, February 2

Semi-final 1: Quarter-final 1 winner vs Quarter-final 4 winner, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala)

Thursday, February 3

Semi-final 2: Quarter-final 2 winner vs Quarter-final 3 winner, 7pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde)

Sunday, February 6

Semi-final 1 loser vs Semi-final 2 loser, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde)

Sunday, February 6

Semi-final 1 winner vs Semi-final 2 winner, 7 pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde)

Stats Perform AFCON 2021 predictions

Team	R16	QF	SF	Final	Champs
Morocco	93.6%	69.0%	39.2%	25.1%	14.5%
Nigeria	93.6%	59.7%	38.8%	24.3%	14.3%
Egypt	94.5%	60.9%	37.8%	23.4%	13.3%
Senegal	94.9%	64.7%	40.0%	21.8%	12.4%
Côte d’Ivoire	91.5%	51.4%	29.8%	16.0%	8.3%
Algeria	94.0%	52.6%	30.5%	16.5%	8.0%
Tunisia	90.5%	52.6%	30.2%	14.8%	7.4%
Ghana	86.7%	57.0%	28.0%	15.0%	7.1%
Mali	84.9%	42.0%	21.2%	8.7%	3.5%
Cameroon	88.4%	45.7%	20.7%	8.5%	3.4%
Guinea	82.0%	41.3%	19.2%	7.0%	2.5%
Burkina Faso	79.1%	37.3%	15.9%	6.3%	2.4%
Gabon	57.8%	26.5%	9.2%	3.0%	0.9%
Cabo Verde	62.6%	20.9%	6.2%	1.7%	0.3%
Malawi	44.7%	14.7%	4.4%	1.1%	0.3%
Mauritania	45.8%	13.5%	4.3%	1.0%	0.3%
Equatorial Guinea	48.3%	13.5%	4.2%	1.0%	0.3%
Zimbabwe	43.5%	13.3%	3.8%	0.9%	0.2%
Guinea-Bissau	44.7%	13.6%	3.6%	0.9%	0.2%
Gambia	48.3%	13.6%	4.2%	1.0%	0.2%
Comoros	30.2%	10.2%	2.5%	0.5%	0.1%
Sudan	29.1%	7.9%	1.9%	0.4%	0.1%
Sierra Leone	30.9%	7.5%	2.0%	0.5%	0.1%
Ethiopia	40.3%	10.6%	2.3%	0.5%	0.1%