The Group D of the 2022 African Nations Championship presents an intriguing contest as three countries vie for a place in the next round.
2020 finalists Mali will battle it out against Angola and Mauritania for a spot in the quarter-finals.
All the matches in this group will be played at the 40,000-capacity Miloud Hadefi Stadium in the Algerian city of Belgaid and only the group leader will move on to the next round to face the first-place team in group B.
MALI
This year’s outing will mark the Eagles’ fifth appearance at the African Nations Championship, after missing the 2009 and 2018 editions.
Mali have played in the final twice but yet to win the competition. Their most recent final appearance was in 2020 when they were defeated 2-0 by two-time winners Morocco.
In the qualifiers, Mali defeated Sierra Leone 4-1 on aggregate which included a 2-0 victory at the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako to earn a spot in the competition.
On Monday, coach Nouhoum Diané released a 26-man squad heading to Algeria, with Malian Premier Division champions Djoliba AC – eight players and AS Real Bamako – 10 players making up the bulk of the squad.
ANGOLA
Palancas Negras of Angola will compete in the biennial competition for the fourth time after seeing off South Africa in an emphatic 6-1 aggregate victory.
Head coach Pedro Goncalves recently unveiled a 30-person provisional squad traveling to Portugal for pre-tournament training.
Angola’s best finish at the championships was second place in the 2011 CHAN tournament in Sudan, where they lost 3-0 to Tunisia.
They will, however, hope to make it past the quarterfinal stage this time around after their painful loss in extra time to Nigeria in 2018.
MAURITANIA
Al-Murabitun will be making their third appearance in the African Nations Championship when they kick off their tournament on January 20, against Angola, after they failed to qualify for the previous edition.
They qualified for CHAN 2022 after successfully defeating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 on aggregate.
Having failed to make it out of the group stages in their last two attempts, Mauritania will work towards breaking the jinx in Algeria.
AFROSPORT TV will be showing all Group D matches live across Nigeria and you watch on the go via – https://mw.vidivu.tv/s/496423
GROUP D FIXTURES
Mali vs Angola – January 16 (5pm)
Angola vs Mauritania – January 20 (5pm)
Mauritania vs Mali – January 24 (5pm)
