The expanded African Cup of Nations that will feature 24 teams for the first time, take place in June/July rather than the traditional January window and will have three teams taking part for the first time ever. Burundi on Saturday joined Madagascar and Mauritania as countries going to the finals (AFCON 2019) for the first time.

Burundi’s qualification earned through a 1-1 draw against Gabon, also means the East Africa bloc will have four countries at Africa’s
premier football tournament. Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya also qualified for AFCON 2019.South Africa booked the last place at the African Cup of Nations finals with a 2-1 away win over Libya thanks to Percy Tau’s double on Sunday.

Last month, experts declared that the hosts, Egypt ‘will be ready’ when the tournament kicks off in June. Last weekend, the 24 participating teams were confirmed, including three nations; Burundi, Mauritania and Madagascar, participating for the first time. In this article, we profile all the teams that have qualified for the continent’s most prestigious football tournament.

Algeria

. Qualifying results: Benin 2-0 home 0-1 away, Gambia 1-1
1-1, Togo 1-0 4-1

. Scorers: Bounedjah 3, Mahrez 2, Abeid, Attal, Bensebaini,
Hanni 1 each

. Coach: Djamel Belmadi (ALG)

. Africa/world rankings: 13/69

. Previous appearances: 17

. Best placing: champions (1990)

Angola

. Qualifying: Burkina Faso 2-1 1-3, Botswana 1-0 1-0,
Mauritania 4-1 0-1

. Scorers: Mateus 4, Gelson 3, Djalma, Eduardo 1 each

. Coach: Srdjan Vasiljevic (SRB)

. Africa/world rankings: 33/125

. Previous appearances: 7

. Best placing: quarter-finals (2008, 2010)

Burundi

. Qualifying: South Sudan 3-0 5-2, Gabon 1-1 1-1, Mali 1-1
0-0

. Scorers: Abdul Razak 6, Amissi 3, Berahino, Duhayindavyi 1
each

. Coach: Olivier Niyungeko (BDI)

. Africa/world rankings: 38/139

. Previous appearances: none

Benin

. Qualifying: Gambia 1-0 1-3, Togo 2-1 0-0, Algeria 1-0 0-2

. Scorers: Mounie 2, D’Almeida, Djigla, Sessegnon 1 each

. Coach: Michel Dussuyer (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 20/94

. Previous appearances: 3

. Best placing: first round

Cameroon

. Qualifying: Morocco 1-0 0-2, Comoros 3-0 1-1, Malawi 1-0
0-0

. Scorers: Choupo-Moting 2, Aboubakar, Bahoken, Bassogog,
N’Jie 1 each

. Coach: Clarence Seedorf (NED)

. Africa/world rankings: 7/56

. Previous appearances: 18

. Best placing: champions (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017)

Democratic Republic of Congo

. Qualifying: Congo Brazzaville 3-1 1-1, Liberia 1-0 1-1,
Zimbabwe 1-2 1-1

. Scorers: Bakambu 3, Bolasie, Elia, Kasongo, Mbemba 1 each,
Hadebe (ZIM)-og

. Coach: Florent Ibenge (COD)

. Africa/world rankings: 5/51

. Previous appearances: 18

. Best placing: champions (1968, 1974)

Egypt

. Qualifying: Tunisia 3-2 0-1, Niger 6-0 1-1, eSwatini (formerly
Swaziland) 4-1 2-0

. Scorers: Salah 4, Hassan 3, M. Mohsen 2, Ashraf, Hegazy,
S. Mohsen, Elneny, A. el * Mohamady, B. el Mohamady, Warda 1 each

. Coach: Javier Aguirre (MEX)

. Africa/world rankings: 8/57

. Previous appearances: 23

. Best placing: champions (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006,
2008, 2010)

Ghana

. Qualifying: Ethiopia 5-0 2-0, Kenya 1-0 0-1

. Scorers: J. Ayew, Dwamena 2 each, Boye, Ekuban, Gyan,
Ofori 1 each

. Coach: James Kwesi Appiah (GHA)

. Africa/world rankings: 6/53

. Previous appearances: 21

. Best placing: champions (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)

Guinea

. Qualifying: Ivory Coast 1-1 3-2, Central African Republic
1-0 0-0, Rwanda 2-0 1-1

. Scorers: Kamano 2, Cisse, Diallo, Kante, Keïta, Soumah,
Yattara 1 each

. Coach: Paul Put (BEL)

. Africa/world rankings: 12/68

. Previous appearances: 11

. Best placing: runners-up (1976)

Guinea-Bissau

. Qualifying: Namibia 1-0 0-0, Mozambique 2-2 2-2, Zambia
2-1 1-2

. Scorers: F. Mendy 3, Piqueti 2, Embalo, Gomes, Silva 1
each

. Coach: Baciro Cande (GNB)

. Africa/world rankings: 31/118

. Previous appearances: 1

. Best placing: first round

Ivory Coast

. Qualifying: Guinea 2-3 1-1, Rwanda 3-0 2-1, Central
African Republic 4-0 0-0

. Scorers: Bailly, Cornet, Doumbia, Kodjia 2 each, Doukoure,
Gradel, Pepe, Seri 1 each

. Coach: Ibrahim Kamara (CIV)

. Africa/world rankings: 11/66

. Previous appearances: 22

. Best placing: champions (1992, 2015)

Kenya

. Qualifying: Ghana 1-0 0-1, Ethiopia 3-0 0-0

. Scorers: Johana, Olunga, Wanyama 1 each, Opoku (GHA)-og

. Coach: Sebastien Migne (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 23/106

. Previous appearances: 5

. Best placing: first round

Madagascar

. Qualifying: Sao Tome e Principe 3-2 1-0, Sudan 1-3 3-1,
Senegal 2-2 0-2, Equatorial Guinea 1-0 1-0

. Scorers: Andriamatsinoro, Andriatsima, Voavy 3 each,
Rakotoharimalala 1, Diogo (STP)-og, Coulibaly (SEN)-og

. Coach: Nicolas Dupuis (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 24/107

. Previous appearances: none

Mali

. Qualifying: Gabon 2-1 1-0, South Sudan 3-0 3-0, Burundi
0-0 1-1

. Scorers: S. Coulibaly, Traore 2 each, Bissouma, K.
Coulibaly, Djenepo, Doumbia, Fofana, Marega 1 each

. Coach: Mohamed Magassouba (MLI)

. Africa/world rankings: 10/65

. Previous appearances: 10

. Best placing: runners-up (1972)

Mauritania

. Qualifying: Botswana 2-1 1-0, Burkina Faso 2-0 0-1, Angola
1-0 1-4

. Scorers: Diakite 3, Ba, Camara, El Hacen, Soudani 1 each

. Coach: Corentin Martins (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 18/84

. Previous appearances: none

Morocco

. Qualifying: Cameroon 2-0 0-1, Malawi 3-0 0-0, Comoros 1-0
2-2

. Scorers: Ziyech 3, En-Nesyri 2, Amrabat, Boutaib, Fajr 1
each

. Coach: Herve Renard (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 3/43

. Previous appearances: 16

. Best placing: champions (1976)

Namibia

. Qualifying: Guinea-Bissau 0-0 0-1, Zambia 1-1 1-4,
Mozambique 1-0 2-1

. Scorers: Shalulile 2, Hotto, Shilembi, Shilongo 1 each

. Coach: Ricardo Mannetti (NAM)

. Africa/world rankings: 26/110

. Previous appearances: 2

. Best placing: first round

Nigeria

. Qualifying: South Africa 0-2 1-1, Seychelles 3-1 3-0,
Libya 4-0 3-2

. Scorers: Ighalo 7, Musa 2, Awaziem, Kalu, Onyekuru, Simon
1 each, Mkhwanazi (RSA)-og

. Coach: Gernot Rohr (GER)

. Africa/world rankings: 4/46

. Previous appearances: 17

. Best placing: champions (1980, 1994, 2013)

Senegal

. Qualifying: Equatorial Guinea 3-0 1-0, Madagascar 2-0 2-2,
Sudan 3-0 1-0

. Scorers: Niang 3, Gueye, Sow 2 each, Cisse, Keita, Konate,
Sarr 1 each, Meseguer (GEQ)-og

. Coach: Aliou Cisse (SEN)

. Africa/world rankings: 1/24

. Previous appearances: 14

. Best placing: runners-up (2002)

South Africa

. Qualifying: Nigeria 1-1 2-0, Libya 0-0 2-1, Seychelles 6-0
0-0

. Scorers: Tau 4, Mothiba 2, Hlatshwayo, Mokoena, Ndlovu,
Rantie 1 each, Hoareau (SEY)-og

. Coach: Stuart Baxter (ENG)

. Africa/world rankings: 14/74

. Previous appearances: 9

. Best placing: champions (1996)

Tanzania

. Qualifying: Lesotho 1-1 0-1, Uganda 3-0 0-0, Cape Verde
2-0 0-3

. Scorers: Msuva, Samatta 2 each, Morris, Nyoni 1 each

. Coach: Emmanuel Amunike (NGR)

. Africa/world rankings: 37/137

. Previous appearances: 1

. Best placing: first round

Tunisia

. Qualifying: Egypt 1-0 2-3, eSwatini 4-0 2-0, Niger 1-0 2-1

. Scorers: Sliti 4, Chaouat, Khenissi, Meriah 2 each, Badri,
S. Ben Youssef 1 each

. Coach: Alain Giresse (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 2/28

. Previous appearances: 18

. Best placing: champions (2004)

Uganda

. Qualifying: Cape Verde 1-0 1-0, Tanzania 0-0 0-3, Lesotho
3-0 2-0

. Scorers: Miya 3, Okwi 2, Kaddu, Sserunkuma 1 each

. Coach: Sebastien Desabre (FRA)

. Africa/world rankings: 16/77

. Previous appearances: 6

. Best placing: runners-up (1978)

Zimbabwe

. Qualifying: Liberia 3-0 0-1, Congo Brazzaville 2-0 1-1,
Democratic Republic of Congo 1-1 2-1

. Scorers: Musona 5, Billiat 3, Pfumbidzai 1

. Coach: Sunday Chidzambwa (ZIM)

. Africa/world rankings: 28/113

. Previous appearances: 3

. Best placing: first round

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