Group B battle at the 2022 African Nations Championship comprises two West African countries and one country each from Central and Eastern Africa.
West African giants Senegal and Ivory Coast will battle it out against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, who both have the joint-most appearances at the biennial tournament with six each.
All the matches in Group B will be played at the famous 52,000-capacity May 19th Stadium in Annaba.
DR CONGO
Two-time winners, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, led by former footballer Ngoma Otis, qualified for the tournament after defeating the Chad Republic 7-1 in a playoff double-header.
They triumphed 2-1 in the first leg away from home before securing a convincing 5-nil victory at the Pentecost Martyrs Stadium.
Coach Otis named a strong 28-man squad on Wednesday, with players from league leaders AS Vita Club and defending champions TP Mazembe making the list, including TP Mazembe fullback Issama Mpeko.
UGANDA
Uganda qualified for the tournament by defeating Tanzania 4-0 on aggregate.
The East Africans have failed to go past the group stages in their last five appearances at the tournament and will look to put an end to the disappointing record with the appointment of head coach Milutin Sredojevic.
On Monday, Sredojevic further trimmed his initial 30-man squad to 25 players, with four outfield players and a goalkeeper missing out on the final squad.
The omission of in-form attacking midfielder and arguably the best performing player in the first round of the Ugandan Premier League, Ibrahim “Owen” Kasule, who has five goals and five assists this season, was the biggest surprise.
SENEGAL
Senegal will be making their third appearance at the African Nations Championship.
They qualified for the tournament after edging Guinea 5-3 on penalties. The two sides finished with a 2-2 draw on aggregate, but the Teranga Lions were perfect in the shootout to secure a qualification spot.
The Pape Thiaw-led team will look to Diambars striker Meleye Junior Diagne to lead their attack in Algeria, while Aliou Badry, who was part of Senegal’s history-making team in the AFCON 2021, will be in goal for Senegal too.
IVORY COAST
Ivory Coast finished in third place in the 2016 edition of the tournament and will hope to go two steps further to win their first CHAN title when they kick off in Algeria.
The Local Elephants, led by Soualiho Hadara, defeated Burkina Faso 5-3 on penalties to secure their fifth appearance in the competition after missing out on the last one.
Eleven players from ASEC Mimosas make up the Ivory Coast contingent heading to Algeria, with Essis Baudelaire appointed as captain and Aubin Kramo and 19-year-old forward Karamoko Sankara likely to lead the attack.
GROUP B FIXTURES
DR Congo vs Uganda – January 14 (5pm)
Ivory Coast vs Senegal – January 14 (8pm)
DR Congo vs Ivory Coast – January 18 (5pm)
Senegal vs Uganda – January 18 (8pm)
Senegal vs DR Congo – January 22 (8pm)
Uganda vs Ivory Coast – January 22 (8pm)
