This year is an exciting one for the African football world – The 2019 African Cup of Nations is going to be starting in June.
With 24 nations participating, it is going to be one of the most exciting competitions of the year to watch.
It is hard to be making predictions already, however, we are excited to start making football predictions for the upcoming championship because it is one of our all-time favourite things to do. After all, if we don’t make them, who will?
A lot on the line
This year, the tournament is studded with teams who have a lot to say in terms of football. These are teams who have held championship titles in the past and would like to reclaim them, or teams who recently joined and have a burning desire to showcase the power of their own game.
Nigeria, one of the more interesting teams to be participating this year, did not even qualify last time around, so they have a lot to prove. The three-time champion of the past has to display game quality which they have not shown in a long time if they want to achieve championship this time around.
Yet, with the recent game showcases, we are hopeful. What will prove interesting are the upcoming friendly games that Nigeria will be holding against Senegal and Zimbabwe, where it will get to showcase how much better they have gotten over the past years.
The outcomes of these games might tell us a lot about what to expect from the upcoming cup.
But Nigeria is not the only one who has a lot on the line. The Ivory Coast, the reigning champions from last time around, will be defending their title and they have vowed to do so fiercely. It is their goal to remain champions for the second time in a row and prove to the rest of the participating nations that they will have to step their game up in order to be able to compare to the Ivory Coast team.
Egypt is another team to watch. In the past, there have been decades known for Egyptian domination, and they have been wildly successful in the cup historically. Some think that the team has been in decline but still, they have managed to gain some attention this year and attract the hopes and support of many. There is a reason to keep an eye on them and wonder if the hosts of this year’s competition will also become the champions once again.
What are the expectations
It is a little too early to start making predictions, but we are still going to try our hand at it. After all, we are aware of all the players who will be on the teams and we are aware of the track record of the teams participating.
Egypt is one of the favourites participating in the game, Ivory Coast is definitely a team to expect many victories from and Nigeria might also have a thing or two to say in the competition.
