Guinea’s full 23 man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations has been confirmed, with Naby Keita  spearheading a strong lineup.

The West Africans qualified in relatively comfortable fashion despite being in a tough group which saw them progress alongside local rivals Cote d’Ivoire.

Now it remains to be seen if the Syli Nationale can perform on the big stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, where they have not been able to progress beyond the quarter finals since reaching the final in 1976.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Naby Yattara (Excelsior, Reunion Island), Ibrahima Koné (Pau, France), Aly Kéita (Ostersunds, Sweden).

Defenders: Fodé Camara (Gazélec Ajaccio, France), Issiaga Sylla (Toulouse FC, France), Ernest Seka (Nancy, France), Simon Falette (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Ousmane Sidibé (Béziers, France), Baissama Sankoh (Caen, France), Mikael Dyrestam (AO Xanthi FC, Greece), Julian Jeanvier (Brendford, England).

Midfielders: Amadou Diawara (Napoli, Italy), Ibrahima Cissé (Fulham, England), Boubacar Fofana (Gaz Metan, Romania), Naby Keita (Liverpool, England), Mady Camara (Olympiakos, Greece).

Forwards: François Kamano (Bordeaux, France), Mohamed Yattara (Auxerre, France), Ibrahima Traoré (Borussia M’Gladbach, Germany), José Kanté (Gimnastic Tarragona, Spain), Idrissa Sylla (Zulte Waregem, Belgium), Fodé Koita (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Sory Kaba (Dijon, France).

The obvious star name is Liverpool midfieler Naby Keita, who is often afforded more attacking freedom than he gets at club level. On top of Keita, Bordeaux winger Kamano is a constant attacking threat and Napoli’s Diawara is one of the best midfield controllers on the continent.

Following their friendly with hosts Egypt, Guinea will kick off the AFCON campaign against debutants Madagascar on 22nd June at 10PM local time before taking on fellow West Africans Nigeria and then closing out the group against another set of debutants in Burundi.