Sunday at AFCON: Defending champions Algeria targeting victory

Dates, kick-off times and host cities – here’s the full schedule for AFCON 2021.

The tournament, originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2021, is being held in Cameroon between January 9 and February 6, 2022, with Sky Sports showing all 52 games live.

Twenty-four teams are taking part. The action kicked off with hosts Cameroon beating Burkina Faso in Yaounde, and will culminate in the final on February 6 at the same Olembe Stadium venue.

Sunday at AFCON

Defending champions Algeria will be looking to get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign back on track when they take on Equatorial Guinea at Japoma Stadium.

The defending champions are targeting three points after a disappointing goalless draw against Sierra Leone in their Group E opener. Equatorial Guinea were beaten against Ivory Coast by 1-0 in their first game of the tournament.

Ivory Coast face a confident Sierra Leone team after the Leone Stars held defending champions Algeria to a surprise goalless draw in their tournament opener.

Two-time champions Ivory Coast made a positive start to their AFCON campaign too – defeating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 and are seeking a further victory that could see them securing their last-16 spot.

The last meeting between the two teams in AFCON saw Ivory Coast winning 4-0 in Tunisia 1994.

Both Mali and Gambia enjoyed 1-0 wins in their opening games and will meet each other on Sunday in Limbe.

Mali defeated Tunisia 1-0 in a highly controversial game. Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe’s errors sparked chaos when he twice blew for full-time too early in the game.

There was even an attempt to restart the game about 30 minutes after it finished to play out the time Sikazwe missed, but Tunisia refused to get back on the field.

Meanwhile, Gambia’s win was less dramatic but still remarkable – a win in their first-ever AFCON match, Ablie Jallow’s strike giving the Scorpions a 1-0 win over Mauritania. Another win on Sunday will ensure Gambia are on their way to a historic second-round appearance.

The bottom two sides in Group F will meet when Tunisia take on Mauritania. Both will be looking for their first points after losing their opening games, keeping their hopes of a last-16 spot alive.

AFCON 2021 groups

Group A: Cameroon (hosts), Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Islands, Ethiopia

Group B: Guinea, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe

Group C: Comoros Islands, Gabon, Ghana, Morocco

Group D: Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Sudan

Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone

Group F: Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Tunisia

AFCON 2021 group-stage fixtures and results

Sunday January 9

Group A: Cameroon 2-1 Burkina Faso
Group A: Ethiopia 0-1 Cape Verde

Monday January 10

Group B: Senegal 1-0 Zimbabwe
Group B: Guinea 1-0 Malawi
Group C: Morocco 1-0 Ghana
Group C: Comoros 0-1 Gabon

Tuesday January 11

Group E: Algeria 0-0 Sierra Leone
Group D: Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
Group D: Sudan 0-0 Guinea-Bissau

Wednesday January 12

Group F: Tunisia 0-1 Mali
Group F: Mauritania 0-1 Gambia
Group E: Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Ivory Coast

Thursday January 13

Group A: Cameroon 4-1 Ethiopia
Group A: Cape Verde 0-1 Burkina Faso

Friday January 14

Group B: Senegal 0-0 Guinea
Group B: Malawi 2-1 Zimbabwe
Group C: Morocco 2-0 Comoros
Group C: Gabon 1-1 Ghana

Saturday January 15

Group D: Nigeria 3-1 Sudan
Group D: Guinea-Bissau 0-1 Egypt

Sunday January 16

Group F: Gambia 1-1 Mali
Group E: Ivory Coast 2-2 Sierra Leone
Group F: Tunisia 4-0 Mauritania
Group E: Algeria vs Equatorial Guinea, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports Mix

Monday January 17

Group A: Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Group A: Cape Verde vs Cameroon, 4pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Football

Tuesday January 18

Group B: Malawi vs Senegal, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Group B: Zimbabwe vs Guinea, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Group C: Gabon vs Morocco, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Group C: Ghana vs Comoros, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Wednesday January 19

Group D: Egypt vs Sudan, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Group D: Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Thursday January 20

Group E: Ivory Coast vs Algeria, 4pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Group E: Sierra Leone vs Equatorial Guinea, 4pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Group F: Gambia vs Tunisia, 7pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Group F: Mali vs Mauritania, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

AFCON 2021 round-of-16 fixtures and results

Sunday January 23

Game 1: Group A runner-up vs Group C runner-up, 4pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Game 2: Group D winner vs Group B/E/F third-place, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua) – Live on Sky Sports Mix

Monday January 24

Game 3: Group B runner-up vs Group F runner-up, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Game 4: Group A winner vs Group C/D/E third-place, 7pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Tuesday January 25

Game 5: Group B winner vs Group A/C/D third-place, 4pm (Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Game 6: Group C winner vs Group A/B/F third-place, 7pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Football

Wednesday January 26

Game 7: Group E winner vs Group D runner-up, 4pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports Football
Game 8: Group F winner vs Group E runner-up, 7pm (Limbe Stadium, Limbe) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

AFCON 2021 quarter-final fixtures and results

Saturday January 29

Quarter-final 1: Round-of-16 game 4 winner vs Round-of-16 game 3 winner, 4pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports
Quarter-final 2: Round-of-16 game 1 winner vs Round-of-16 game 2 winner, 7pm (Roumde Adjia Stadium, Garoua) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Sunday January 30

Quarter-final 3: Round-of-16 game 7 winner vs Round-of-16 game 6 winner, 4pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Quarter-final 4: Round-of-16 game 5 winner vs Round-of-16 game 8 winner, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports Football

AFCON 2021 semi-final fixtures and results

Wednesday February 2

Semi-final 1: Quarter-final 1 winner vs Quarter-final 4 winner, 7pm (Japoma Stadium, Douala) – Live on Sky Sports

Thursday February 3

Semi-final 2: Quarter-final 2 winner vs Quarter-final 3 winner, 7pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports

AFCON 2021 third-place match

Sunday February 6

Semi-final 1 loser vs Semi-final 2 loser, 4pm (Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports

AFCON 2021 final

Sunday February 6

Semi-final 1 winner vs Semi-final 2 winner, 7pm (Olembe Stadium, Yaounde) – Live on Sky Sports

Source : Sky Sports