AFCON 2023: 6 Favourites to Win the Tournament, as Named by Algeria Coach

• Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi has dismissed suggestions that Algeria are AFCON favourites
• Belmadi instead named five other countries he believes stand a better chance
• Algeria last won the AFCON in 2019; it was their second title in history

The mind games seem to have begun ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations as Algeria manager Djamel Belmadi snubbed his own team when talking about favourites to win this year’s edition of the tournament.

In what was a clear attempt to take pressure of his team, Belmadi instead named five other teams which he claims are in a better position to take the crown.

According to the Algeria coach, hosts Cote d’Ivoire are the team to beat going into the tournament.

He further claimed that the Desert Foxes were still recovering from the heartbreak of failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, something which ruled them out as one of the favourites in the AFCON.

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“We are arriving at this tournament slowly but surely, with a lot of certainty,” Belmadi said as quoted on CAFonline.

“But we are reminded of our elimination from the first round of the last edition, followed by our failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. De facto we are not favourites.”

Who else does Belmadi rate as favourites?

The 47-year-old tactician went on to name other teams that were up there with Ivory Coast as the favourites to win the tournament.

He cited Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, and Nigeria as the heavy hitters in the spectacle, set to kick off on January 13.

Algeria’s group opponents

Having failed to reach the knockout stages in the 2021 TotalEnergies AFCON, Algeria will have the chance to make amends in this year’s edition as they are in a group in which they can easily be considered favourites.

According to EuroSport, their group comprises Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, nations which all rank lower than Algeria in the FIFA rankings.

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Furthermore, Algeria has a potent squad of players, with a majority of them plying their trade in Europe’s top leagues.

Algeria will embark on a 10-day training camp in Togo and take on two friendly matches before officially kicking off their AFCON adventure.

Nations with most AFCON titles

Sports Brief also reported on the African nations with the most AFCON titles, as Egypt leads the line.

Cameroon are in second place with five titles, as they won their maiden AFCON trophy in 1984.

They waited just four years to claim their second championship, with Cameroon recording a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the 1988 final in Morocco.