AFCON opening match, Cameroon 2-1 Burkina Faso – As it happened

The delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finally kicks off on Sunday, 9 January after a year-long delay due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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Despite negativity once again being levelled at the tournament by some elite-level European-based managers due to player unavailability, the world’s second-biggest continent is set to put on a show for the 33rd edition of this competition.

One nation expected to fight their way through to the latter stages is Cameroon, who host AFCON for the first time in 50 years.

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The five-time winners enter as fourth-favourites to hoist the trophy this time around according to a plethora of bookmakers, and it’s not difficult to see why with a glance towards their strong squad.

Cameroon had an impressive AFCON qualification campaign

Their impressive record through AFCON qualification (W3, D2, L1) will also raise expectations around the war-torn country.

Heading into this competition on the back of four straight competitive victories, Cameroon have looked incredibly solid in defence in particular.

That’s because they’ve managed to keep three clean sheets across that four-game stint and have conceded just 0.43 goals on average across their last seven competitive internationals (W5, D1, L1).

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This opening fixture is unlikely to prove plain-sailing for the hosts though, as Burkina Faso make the relatively short trip east for this clash in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

The visitors arrive as FIFA’s 60th-best ranked nation – just 10 spots below the hosts (50) – and will be looking to go a game further than their third-placed finish at the 2017 AFCON tournament.

Their preparation for this edition couldn’t have gone much better, after losing just one competitive outing since March 2019 (W9, D8), and keeping 11 clean sheets in the process.

The last head-to-head clash also came during that run, a 0-0 stalemate that made it three competitive draws in a row versus Cameroon.

Kick-off is scheduled for 18:00 SA time.

Players to watch

Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar netted three times during qualification, though he’s only scored once in eight prior AFCON finals appearances. Forward Bertrand Traoré scored in the last AFCON qualification game, and Burkina Faso are unbeaten across his six previous competitive goalscoring matches (W5, D1).

Hot stat

Burkina Faso have scored two or more goals in six of their last seven competitive victories.

NOTE: If the live scoring below does not display, please click HERE