AFCON 2023: TOTAL GUIDE TO GROUP D

AFCON GROUP D: Algeria (30), Angola (117), Burkina Faso (57), Mauritania (105) FIFA ranking in bracket.

If there is ever a group I believe will not produce a third-best-placed team, it has to be this group because of the gap between the two top teams and the other two teams. Algeria might have failed to qualify from their group in 2022, but you don’t expect lightning to strike twice for the Desert Foxes. Alongside the semi-finalist from the last edition, Burkina Faso, this should make it an easy passage for both teams. Angola and Mauritania will likely not pick up any points against the other two teams, and, it will hamper their chances of qualifying for the next round.

AFCON Group D Fixtures

Jan. 15th: Algeria vs Angola (21:00 WAT)

Jan. 16th: Burkina Faso vs Mauritania (15:00 WAT)

Jan. 20th: Algeria vs Burkina Faso (15:00 WAT)

Jan. 20th: Mauritania vs Angola (18:00 WAT)

Jan. 23rd: Mauritania vs Algeria (21:00 WAT)

Jan. 23rd: Angola vs Burkina Faso (21:00 WAT)

The Favourites are…

Since winning the AFCON in 2019, Algeria has suffered a bit of a decline and hopes to get back to reckon at this tournament after failing to win a single game and failing to qualify from a group that has Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Equatorial Guinea at the last AFCON in 2022, added to their failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.

Algeria is still the favorite to nick top spots in the group and should hold off the challenge from Burkina Faso with this tournament likely to be the end for a few of the players that delivered the North African second AFCON title five years ago, expect them to have another crack at the big title.

Watch out for this game.

Burkina Faso’s journey to the Semi Final of the last AFCON should not be a surprise to many because this was a country that lost narrowly to Nigeria at the 2013 final in South Africa and with some exciting players in their team, they should pose a threat to the Algerian in their second group game.

This game tends to be a banana peel for Algeria and will most likely determine who finishes top of the group and it will be a clash of identical identities because of how both teams play. Algeria players might look fancy but they are one of the few North African sides that can also play the “dogged African way”.

The big question is…

When Burkina Faso lost their opening game at the last AFCON to host Cameroun, chances of doing anything of note at that tournament were slim but they rallied around to qualify for the Round 16 after garnering four points from the next two group games.

They got the better of Gabon on penalties in Round 16 and Tunisia in the quarter-final before losing to eventual champions Senegal in the Semis. One player important to Burkina Faso’s deep run at that tournament was Bertrand Traore, and the big question is, can the Aston Villa forgotten man inspire his country to another deep run at this tournament alongside the now much better and experienced Edmond Tapsoba?

AFCON Group D STAR BOY…

Riyadh Mahrez is the biggest name in the group, and playing in the Saudi Pro League has not changed that. He was integral in Algeria’s AFCON win in 2019 and will look to help Algeria avoid a repeat of 2022.

If you doubt Mahrez’s pull, you only need to look at the Algeria Football Association pulling itself out of the CAF Awards ceremony after Mahrez failed to make the final three of the 2023 CAF Mens Player of the Year award in a year he helped his former club Manchester City to win the treble and, he has contributed eight goals and seven assists in nineteen matches for Al Ahli this season.

You might not know this, but…

Of all the 24 teams participating in this tournament, Algeria is the only team to have won all their last five games, and Angola is the only team from the 24 teams yet to concede a goal in their last five games.