CHAN
Hassan Wasswa, Mrisho Ngasa and McDonald Mariga confirmed as CHAN 2024 Draw Assistants
With two days to go before the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) conducts the official draw for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 finals, three legends who will take part in the ceremony have been confirmed, with one each from co-hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The draw will be conducted on Wednesday, 15 January at the Kenyatta International Conventional Centre in Nairobi, Kenya at 20h00 local time (17h00 GMT / 19h00 Cairo time).
Uganda’s Hassan Wasswa, Mrisho Ngasa of Tanzania and Kenya’s McDonald Mariga will be the three legends conducting the draw of the eighth edition of the competition to take place between 1-28 February 2025.
A total of 19 nations, including hosts Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and defending champions Senegal will be engaged in the draw to officially map out the tournament’s month-long schedule.
Wasswa, Ngasa and Mariga have contributed to the ever-growing standard of African football, and have left their mark on the game in their respective countries.
Wasswa, who’s national team career spans over a decade, has been a long time servant of Ugandan football. In addition to representing the Cranes 75 times, the defensive midfielder also enjoyed a career in Turkey and Saudi Arabia before his 2021 retirement.
Tanzania’s Mrisho Ngasa is rated as one of the best players to come out of the East African nation. With a century of international appearances, Ngasa
is the second most capped Tanzanian player of all time and the nation’s leading scorer with 25 goals.
With a career dating back to 2005, his highlights include playing for three of the biggest clubs in Tanzania, Simba AC , Young Africans and Azam FC.
Beyond Tanzanian borders, the former striker plied his trade with Free State Stars in South Africa before moving to Oman, where he played for Fanja before his retirement with Tanzania’s Ndanda Sports Club.
Mariga enjoyed a glittering career that included a UEFA Champions League title with Inter Milan, as well as the Serie A trophy and two Coppa Italia wins. He also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2010.
The former defensive midfielder was the first Kenyan to play in the UEFA Champions League, and also represented clubs in Sweden and Spain. He won 40 caps for the Kenya national team, scoring five goals.
He is the older brother of another Kenyan legend, Victor Wanyama.
TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship 2024 Confirmed Qualified Teams:
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda (all co-hosts), Morocco, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Sudan, Zambia, Angola and Madagascar. Two more teams will be confirmed for the finals.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
In the final draw of the 8th edition of the African Nations Championship holding on Wednesday at the Kenyatta International Conventional Centre in Nairobi Kenya, Nigeria’s Super Eagles B is one of the unseeded teams and will therefore be in Pot 3 which contains the least ranked teams.
There are eight teams in Pot 3 and Nigeria’s Super Eagles are one of the last four in the pot having not amassed any point in the last three editions.
Teams are seeded based on results in the last three editions in 2022, 2020 and 2018 and weighted in a ratio of 3:2:1.
Based on these, Morocco and Senegal, the last two champions with 21 points each, are the highest rated. Both are the only teams in Pot 1.
The seeding system allocated 7 points for the winner of the previous three editions. The runners-up get 5 while 3, 2 and 1 are allocated to semi-finalists, quarter-finalists and group stage teams respectively.
In the calculation, Nigeria along with Burkina Faso, Central African Republic and DR Congo has no point. They are joined in Pot 3 by Mauritania, Niger, and Congo who each has six points. Angola with 3 points are also put in Pot 3.
In Pot 2 are: Guinea (10 points), Zambia (10), Madagascar (9), Rwanda (9) and Sudan 8.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
- *Egypt, South Africa, Malawi, The Gambia, Gabon and Comoros are likely invitees to feature in CHAN
As CAF works towards getting other teams to make up the number for the African Nations Championship holding next month, Algeria which has agreed to come in as a wild card holder has indicated it will feature its youth team.
CAF, according to sources, is also working on Egypt, South Africa, Malawi, The Gambia, Gabon and Comoros as possible wild card entrants to get a field of 24 teams.
According to an Algerian publication, Al-Khabar, the Algerian football federation agreed with CAF to now feature in CHAN. But it will feature the youth team as the timing of CHAN coincides with the domestic league.
It averred that it was for the same reason that other countries like Egypt and South Africa withdrew from participation. The Algerian federation said that since February is not a FIFA window, it cannot legally compel clubs to release players for the African Nations Championship.
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It is 23 days to the kick-off of the first-ever co-hosted edition of the African Nations Championship to be held in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The field, currently 19 teams is expected to be enlarged to 24 as CAF is working on possible ‘wild card’ entries following the withdrawal of some qualified teams.
Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and DR Congo are the notable withdrawals. With the clock ticking down to the eighth edition and ahead of the draw ceremony holding next Wednesday in Kenya, a peep into the previous edition is presented.
Only Morocco and the now absentee DR Congo have won the championship more than once.
2009 Champions: DR Congo
The Leopards were the first nation to lift the TotalEnergies CAF CHAN title after overcoming the Black Stars in the final of the inaugural edition played in Cote d’Ivoire.
Interestingly, the two sides had initially met in the group stages of the competition where Ghana outclassed DR Congo 3-0 to finish top of the group ahead of the Leopards.
DR Congo regrouped themselves ahead of their semi-final fixture against Zambia whom they narrowly edged 2-1 ahead of their 2-0 avenging win over the Black Stars in the final.
Zambia finished as bronze medallists after a 2-1 win over Senegal.
2011 Champions: Tunisia
The second edition of the competition was played in Sudan where Tunisia were crowned champions following their 3-0 commanding victory over Angola in the final.
The Carthage Eagles finished top of a Group D that included Angola whom they would later meet in the final.
The 2011 champions proceeded to claim a 2-0 win over South Africa in the quarter-finals before their nail-biting 5-3 penalty win over Algeria following a 1-1 stalemate in the semi-finals.
The final saw Tunisia outwitting the Sable Antelopes 3-0 to claim the title, while the hosts Sudan finished third.
2014 champions: Libya
The tournament was won by a north African nation in succession, as Libya lifted the title on South African soil in 2014.
The Libyans laboured to the finish line, showing heart and determination.
After progressing to the knockout stages, they edged Gabon 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 quarter-final stalemate ahead of another penalty shootout victory in the semi-finals against Zimbabwe where they emerged 5-4 victors.
Libya’s lifting of the title came as a result of another penalty shootout victory after a closely contested goalless stalemate against Ghana saw them emerge 4-3 winners.
2016 Champions: DR Congo
Following their lifting of the inaugural title, the Leopards reclaimed their crown in Rwanda.
Drawn in a tough Group B consisting of Cameroon, Angola and Ethiopia – the Leopards finished second behind the Indomitable Lions to set up a quarter-final clash with the hosts, whom they edged 2-1 in extra-time.
A 5-4 victory over Guinea in the semi-finals saw the Leopards proceed to the final where they would outclass Mali with a 3-0 victory to reclaim their title.
The third-place finish was secured by Cote d’Ivoire.
2018 Champions: Morocco
Morocco were the first, and remain the only, nation to win the competition as hosts after staging the 2018 edition.
Headlining a Group A consisting of former hosts Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania, the north Africans finished top of the group with two wins and a draw.
They went on to edge Namibia 2-0 in the quarter-finals before a north African derby between them and former champions Libya saw the hosts win 3-1 after extra-time.
The final was smooth sailing for the hosts where they dismantled Nigeria 4-0 to lift the title on home soil.
2020 Champions: Morocco
The Moroccans also became the first nation to win back-to-back TotalEnergies CAF CHAN titles.
Heading to the Cameroon edition as reigning champions, Morocco continued from where they left off as they again finished top of their group that consisted of Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.
The knockout stages saw them brush aside Chipolopolo 3-1 in the quarter-finals before knocking out the hosts 4-0 in the semi-finals to go on and defend their title with a 2-0 win in the final against Mali.
2022 Champions: Senegal
Algeria played host to the 2022 edition where the title was lifted by a West African nation for the very first time.
Reigning champions, Senegal were flawless enroute to the final where they edged the hosts in a nail-biting final.
The Lions of Teranga finished top of a tough Group B consisting of Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda and former champions DR Congo.
They then continued to edge a plucky Mauritania 1-0 in the quarter-final before narrowly edging Madagascar by the same scoreline in the semi-finals.
The final, played at a sold-out Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers against the hosts concluded with the West Africans lifting the title, after a 5-4 penalty shootout.
-CAF
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