The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, is at its business end with only the final between Senegal and Algeria to be decided on Friday evening at the Cairo International Stadium.

The biennial international men’s football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was initially supposed to be hosted by Cameroon but due to security reasons the competition was shifted Egypt.

Expanded Tournament

The competition is currently being held from 21 June to 19 July 2019, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2017 to move the Africa Cup of Nations from January/February to June/July for the first time. It is also the first Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

Within a limited amount of time, Egypt has managed to organize a successful Tournament.

Opening Ceremony

The opening Ceremony of the tournament was well coordinated and is one if the best ever in Afcon history.

Spectators

The 12th man has been a key component at all Afcons in history. This year has been no exception as we have seen spectators from respective participating countries paint the stands with beautiful colours.

African Legends

CAF has brought about a deliberate policy to involve African Football Legends like Nwankwo Kanu, El Hadji Diouf and Samuel Et’o at the 2019 African Tournament and must be commended as such.

Surprise packages

A tournament is always incomplete without a surprise package and Egypt 2019 has had its own share of surprise packages. Mauritania, Burundi and Madagascar were making a historic first time appearance at the tournament but the biggest story belonged to the Barea of Madagascar.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR)

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been used for the first time an an African Cup of Nations Tournament. The VAR technology was introduced at the quarterfinals.

Prize Money

The CAF has increased in 2019, prize money to be shared among the teams participating in the Africa Cup of Nations.

• Champions US$4.5 million
• Runners-up US$2.5 million
• Semi-finalists. $1.0 million

In July 2016, Total secured an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support 10 of its principal competitions. Total started with the Africa Cup of Nations that was held in Gabon in 2017 therefore renaming it to Total Africa Cup of Nations.

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

Football Journalist | TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 Photographer | Media Officer - Kabwe Warriors FC | Graphic Designer | Videographer