The Africa Cup of Nations is just around the corner, and this time, it’s bigger than ever!
Hosted by masrena al 3azeeza, the tournament will start on the 21st of this June, and end on the 19th of the next month, July, as decided by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Worthy to mention that this is the first time that the Africa Cup of Nations takes place during June and July. Unlike previous tournaments which took place in January and February.
Most importantly, this is the biggest Africa Cup of Nations to date, with 24 nations competing and winner takes all. The average number of nations to compete being only 8 back in the tournament’s early days, and 16 as of late.
We here at Kolwaka did our research so you won’t have to. Here’s all that we know.
The tournament will kick off with our boys in red competing against Zimbabwe after the opening ceremony on 21st of June, at 10:00PM Cairo local time. (GMT+2), which brings us to Egypt’s squad.
Egypt’s preliminary and full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Ahemd El-Shennawi (Pyramids FC), Mohamed El-Shenawy (Ahly), Mahmoud Genish (Zamalek), Mohamed Abou-Gabal (Smouha).
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady (Aston Villa), Ahmed Hegazi (West Bromwich Albion), Omar Gaber (Pyramids FC), Ali Ghazal (Feirense), Ayman Ahsraf (Ahly), Mahmoud Hamdy (Zamalek), Baher Elmohamady (Ismaily), Ahmed Ayman Mansour (Pyramids FC), Mahmoud Alaa (Zamalek), Ahmed Aboul fotouh (Smouha).
Midfielders: Walid Soliman (Ahly), Abdallah El-Said (Pyramids FC), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Tarek Hamed (Zamalek), Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan (Kasimpasa), Amr Warda (Atromitos), Nabil Emad (Pyramids FC).
Forwards: Ahmed Aly (Arab Contractors), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Marwan Mohsen (Ahly), Ahmed “Kouka” Hassan (Olympiacos).
Now onto the important stuff.
Here’s the schedule for all the matches of the group stage with their date and time so can mark your calendars!
The round of 16 will take place on 5 July until 8 July, the quarter finals will take place on 10 and 11 July, and the final will take place on 19 July.
The nations got divided into 6 groups of fours, due to their large number competing this time. And here they are.
5 of Egypt’s cities will host this wonderful tournament. And they are Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said and Suez.
In addition, each group will have its own stadium. Here’s where each group will play:
- Group A // Cairo International Stadium.
- Group B // Alexandria stadium.
- Group C // 30 June Stadium. (Previously known as Air Defense Stadium)
- Group D // Salam Stadium.
- Group E // Suez Stadium.
- Group F // Ismailia Stadium.
If you’d like to attend any match, visit tazkarti.com to acquire your Fan ID and get your tickets.
But if you don’t feel like going out and still want to watch, various networks will broadcast the matches. And here they are:
Bein Sports, The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Eurosport, and finally, Egypt’s own Time Sport channel.
Moreover, matches will be live-streamed on arabia.eurosport.com, with their links shared beforehand.
We hope that this Africa Cup of Nations is a very exciting and fun one. And we can’t wait to cheer for and support our boys in red!
