2022 African Nations Championship Algeria

[The Moroccan]

Dates: 13 January 2023 - 4 February 2023

Teams:
Group A:

🇩🇿 Algeria 🇩🇿
🇱🇾 Libya 🇱🇾
🇪🇹 Ethiopia 🇪🇹
🇲🇿 Mozambique 🇲🇿

Group B:

🇨🇩 DR Congo 🇨🇩
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire 🇨🇮
🇸🇳 Senegal 🇸🇳
🇺🇬 Uganda 🇺🇬

Group C:

🇲🇦 Morocco 🇲🇦
🇸🇩 Sudan 🇸🇩
🇲🇬 Madagascar 🇲🇬
🇬🇭 Ghana 🇬🇭

Group D:

🇲🇱 Mali 🇲🇱
🇦🇴 Angola 🇦🇴
🇲🇷 Mauritania 🇲🇷

Group E:

🇨🇲 Cameroon 🇨🇲
🇨🇬 Congo 🇨🇬
🇳🇪 The Niger 🇳🇪

Venues:

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers
Miloud Hadefi Stadium, Oran
Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine
19 May Stadium, Annaba

The next posts will be reserved for a small introduction, squads and the results. I will hopefully try to cover the tournament if I have some time

Edit: Dear members, please do not hesitate to share your thoughts about this competition, to make this thread not only themed as a coverage thread but also a discussion thread. Thank you and stay tuned! See you there!​

 

[The Moroccan]

According to Wikipedia, African Nations Championship, also known as CHAN, is a biennial African national association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and first announced on 11 September 2007. The participating nations must consist of players playing in their national league competitions.

The first tournament held in Ivory Coast in 2009 was won by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who, along with Morocco, are the only countries to have won the tournament twice, with Tunisia and Libya scooping one title each. At first, the tournament was played with eight teams, but quickly expanded to sixteen from the second edition onward.

As of the 2014 edition, all tournament matches from qualification to the final, will be computed to calculate the FIFA World Rankings, making its development a necessity. The whole tournament is considered friendly by FIFA since the restriction only allows players from local leagues to participate. The tournament is held biennially, alternating with the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 2022 edition was originally scheduled from 10 July to 1 August 2022, CAF rescheduled the tournament to January 2023 following an announcement at an executive committee meeting held on 10 September 2020 via video conferencing, citing the postponement of the 2020 African Nations Championship to 2021 and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa as well as the already-scheduled 2022 FIFA World Cup in November–December 2022.

Spoiler: History

Spoiler: Development

The conception of this tournament came on 11 September 2007 during a CAF Executive Committee in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the aim unveiled as giving homegrown players opportunities to represent their nations and promote their home leagues globally. The tournament was approved and confirmed the following January before the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. After the tournament event in February, Ivory Coast succeeded in hosting the first edition unanimously by the Executive Committee led by then-CAF President, Issa Hayatou, beating firm-favorite countries like Sudan and Egypt. After this decision, the tournament dates were confirmed.

Spoiler: First edition

The qualifiers began on 29 March and concluded on 14 December 2008. During that period, seven teams joined Ivory Coast to play the tournament. On 22 February 2009, at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, the tournament kicked off. The first goal was scored by Zambian Given Singuluma against Ivory Coast. In Group A, Zambia and Senegal qualified at the expense of Tanzania and Ivory Coast. In Group B, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were able to qualify, while Zimbabwe and Libya were unable to advance to the next round.

In the semi-finals, Senegal and Ghana faced each other, which was decided by a penalty shoot-out, the qualifier for the first final. On the other hand, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo or the DRC) beat Zambia and got the second ticket in the final match. In the match for third place, Zambia won the bronze medal over Senegal. The Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny witnessed the first final in the tournament's history as the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the inaugural tournament champion after defeating Ghana 2–0. In this way, the central African country achieved its first continental title after a 35-year drought.

Spoiler: Tournament expansion

The rapid interest of countries for the tournament led to the increase in the participants from 8 to 16, in its second edition hosted by Sudan in the midst of the struggle for the independence referendum for South Sudan in 2011. The four host cities were Omdurman, Khartoum, Wad Madani and Port Sudan. The qualifiers began on 11 January 2010 and ended on June 6 of the same year. A total of 11 teams qualified for the first time, while 5 teams qualified for the second time.

The tournament was very irregular, in each group there was a dominant team but all the second teams were decided in the last round. Cameroon and South Africa were the only two teams to score the full mark, but they lost in the quarter-finals to Angola and Algeria, respectively. Meanwhile, Sudan beat Niger on penalties and Tunisia beat defending champions Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On 22 February 2011, the semi-finals were played and both ended on penalties. In the first match, Tunisia continued its winning streak, and after a 1–1 draw, it defeated Algeria 3–5 on penalties. A little later, Sudan and Angola tied with the same score, but it was Angola that managed to win on penalties 2–4. In the match for third place, Sudan finished third after beating Algeria by 1–0. Tunisia and Angola, who had tied 1–1 in the first round 15 days ago, played in the final. Tunisia won the tournament in its first participation after beating Angola 3–0 in the final.

Spoiler: FIFA recognition

The tournament changed to instead be held biennially in even-numbered years. This came after the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the request of some European clubs to change this tournament to another year so that it does not coincide with the calendar with the FIFA World Cup, a request that was finally accepted by CAF. Prior to that, CAF named Libya as the hosts of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 African Nations Championship, but had both hosting rights stripped at the onset of the First Libyan Civil War. Several countries offered to host both tournaments, including Egypt and South Africa; the latter chosen as the hosts, citing the credential of its impressive infrastructural hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the qualifiers, there were some big surprises, as the 2010 and 2014 World Cup players were excluded, namely Algeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, as well as Tunisia, the previous title holder.


Cape Town Stadium, one of the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums, home of the 2014 African Nations Championship Final.
The third edition was fantastic by all accounts, the World Cup stadiums gave a different touch to the tournament that started on 11 January 2014. The first round was very even, the quarter-finalists were decided in the last round, with decisive goals in stoppage time in each group. But since then, things have not changed in the knockout stage, as all the quarter-final and semi-final matches were decided by either a single goal difference or a penalty shootout. In the match for third place, Nigeria, who had several players on their team who won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and were preparing for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, won the bronze medal, after beating Zimbabwe 1–0.

The final was held in Cape Town between Ghana and surprise package Libya. The match, like the entire tournament, was very tight and ended 0–0 and the champions were determined by penalties. After 6 penalties per side, it was not only Libya that won the tournament for the first time, but also the first continental title in its history. Although undefeated, the Arab team achieved one win in the tournament in their first match in the group stage against Ethiopia.

Spoiler: Congolese and Moroccan domination

The 4th edition of the tournament was held from 16 January to 7 February 2016 in Rwanda[11] and DR Congo claimed their 2nd title defeating Mali, in the final for the first time and thus representing their best performance in the tournament, in the final by 3–0.

The 5th edition in 2018 was originally scheduled to be hosted in Kenya, but due to several delays in preparation and organization, CAF stripped the country of the hosting rights and opened a new election process. On 14 October 2017, CAF announced Morocco as the new host of the 2018 edition, which was played between 13 January to 4 February. One of the main reasons why Morocco applied to be an organizer is because it was looking to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so the tournament represented one of the country's last chances to show itself as a strong candidate. The final pitted hosts Morocco and Nigeria; both teams undefeated throughout that edition of the tournament and only had a draw to their credit in their respective group stages. Morocco won the match 4–0, winning the title for the first time and becoming the first host nation to win the tournament.

On 7 February 2021, Morocco defeated Mali 2–0 in the 2020 final, becoming the first nation to win back-to-back titles.

Spoiler: Format

Spoiler: Qualification

For the first edition of the tournament in 2009, the group teams were allocated as follows:

• One each for North, West A, West B, Central, and Central East
• Two for the southern region
• One for the host country of the final tournament

Since the second edition, in 2011, 16 teams have qualified for the tournament, allocated in this way (including the host country):

• Northern Region: Two teams, out of 5, qualified through a single elimination round.
• Western Region A: Two teams, out of 6, qualified through two playoffs.
• Western Region B: Three teams, out of 7, qualified through two playoffs.
• Central Region: Three teams, out of 5, qualified through two playoffs.
• Central Eastern Region: Three teams, out of 8, qualified through two playoffs.
• Southern Region: Two teams, out of 9, qualified through three playoffs.

Spoiler: Main phase

The 16 teams participating in the final phase are divided into four groups of four teams each. Within each group they face each other once, through the system of all against all. Depending on the result of each match, three points are awarded to the winner, one point to each team in case of a tie, and none to the loser.

The two best-ranked teams from each group advance to the next round. If at the conclusion of the group matches, two teams finish level on points, the following tie-breaking criteria apply:

1. The highest number of points obtained taking into account all the group matches.
2. The highest goal difference considering all group matches.
3. The highest number of goals scored in favour taking into account all group matches.

If two or more teams are tied based on the above guidelines, their positions will be determined by the following criteria, in order of preference:

1. The highest number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question.
2. The goal difference taking into account the matches between the teams in question.
3. The highest number of goals scored by each team in the matches played between the teams in question.

If after applying the above criteria two teams are still tied, the above three criteria are reapplied to the match played between the two teams in question to determine their final standings. If this procedure does not lead to a tiebreaker, the following tiebreaker criteria apply:

• Goal difference in all group matches.
• Greater number of goals scored in all group matches.
• Draw of the organising committee of the championship.

The second round includes all phases from the round of 16 to the final. The two semi-finalists qualify through the direct elimination system. The losing teams of the semifinals play a match for third and fourth place, while the winners play the final match, where the winner gets the title.

If after 90 minutes of play the game is tied, extra time is played in two stages of 15 minutes each. If the result is still tied after this extra time, the match is defined by the procedure of kicks from the penalty mark.

Spoiler: Results

Spoiler: Summaries

Spoiler: Records and statistics

Year​	Hosts​	Champions (titles)​	Winning Coach​	Top scorer(s) (goals)​	Most valuable player​
2009​	🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	🇨🇩 DR Congo (1)	🇨🇩 Mutumbile Santos	🇿🇲 Given Singuluma (5)	🇨🇩 Trésor Mputu
2011​	🇸🇩 Sudan	🇹🇳 Tunisia (1)	🇹🇳 Sami Trabelsi	🇩🇿 El Arbi Hillel Soudani 3) 🇿🇦 Myron Shongwe (3) 🇸🇩 Mudather Karika (3) 🇹🇳 Zouheir Dhaouadi (3) 🇹🇳 Salema Gasdaoui (3)	🇹🇳 Zouheir Shaouadi
2014​	🇿🇦 South Africa	🇱🇾 Libya (1)	🇪🇸 Javier Clemente	🇿🇦 Bernard Parker (4)	🇳🇬 Ejike Uzoenyi
2016​	🇷🇼 Rwanda	🇨🇩 DR Congo (2)	🇨🇩 Florent Ibengé	🇨🇩 Meschak Elia (4) 🇳🇬 Chisom Chikatara (4) 🇹🇳 Ahmed Akaïchi (4)	🇨🇩 Meschak Elia
2018​	🇲🇦 Morocco	🇲🇦 Morocco (1)	🇲🇦 Jamal Sellami	🇲🇦 Ayoub El Kaabi (9)	🇲🇦 Ayoub El Kaabi
2020​	🇨🇲 Cameroon	🇲🇦 Morocco (2)	🇲🇦 Lhoussaine Ammouta	🇲🇦 Soufiane Rahimi (5)	🇲🇦 Soufiane Rahimi

Side note: As I'm writing this, I heard the news on national TV that Moroccan FA decided to use the U23 squad, it is set to fly the players using the Royal Air Maroc, and due to the heating political conflict between Morocco and Algeria, the latter's government has put restrictions on any flights from the Royal Air Maroc and other Moroccan flight companies. The FRMF said if Algeria doesn't cancel the restrictions, Morocco will withdraw the tournament, thus the possibility of the withdrawal of other teams.

 

[The Moroccan]

Group A Squads:
🇩🇿 Algeria Managed by 🇩🇿 Madjid Bougherra

1	Goalkeeper	Farid Chaâl	🇩🇿 MC Alger
16	Goalkeeper	Alexis Guendouz	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
23	Goalkeeper	Chamseddine Rahmani	🇩🇿 CS Constantine
5	Defender	Ayoub Abdellaoui	🇩🇿 MC Alger
28	Defender	Houari Baouche	🇩🇿 USM Alger
15	Defender	Zineddine Belaïd	🇩🇿 USM Alger
22	Defender	Mokhtar Belkhiter	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
3	Defender	Hocine Dehiri	🇩🇿 Paradou AC
	Defender	Ayoub Ghezala	🇩🇿 MC Alger
2	Defender	Chouaib Keddad	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
21	Defender	Youcef Laouafi	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
	Defender	Haithem Loucif	🇩🇿 USM Alger
24	Defender	Saâdi Radouani	🇩🇿 USM Alger
27	Midfielder	Mohamed Ait El Hadj	🇩🇿 USM Alger
11	Midfielder	Oussama Chita	🇩🇿 USM Alger
25	Midfielder	Chouaib Debbih	🇩🇿 MC Alger
4	Midfielder	Akram Djahnit	🇩🇿 USM Alger
8	Midfielder	Zakaria Draoui	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
14	Midfielder	Houssem Eddine Mrezigue	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
6	Midfielder	Ahmed Kendouci	🇩🇿 ES Sétif
9	Forward	Karim Aribi	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
	Forward	Mohamed Islam Bakir	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
	Forward	Sofiane Bayazid	🇩🇿 USM Khenchela
13	Forward	Mohammed Belkhir	🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
17	Forward	Aimen Lahmeri	🇩🇿 JS Saoura
18	Forward	Aymen Mahious	🇩🇿 USM Alger
7	Forward	Abderrahmane Meziane	🇩🇿 USM Alger
10	Forward	Feth Ellah Tahar	🇩🇿 MC Alger

🇱🇾 Libya Managed by 🇫🇷 Corentin Martins
TBD

🇪🇹 Ethiopia Managed by 🇪🇹 Wubetu Abate
TBD

🇲🇿 Mozambique Managed by 🇲🇿 Chiquinho Conde
TBD

 

[The Moroccan]

Group B Squads:
🇨🇩 DR Congo Managed by 🇫🇷 Sébastien Desabre

	Goalkeeper	Baggio Siadi	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Goalkeeper	Hervé Lomboto	🇨🇩 DC Motema Pembe
	Goalkeeper	Yves Mukawa	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Defender	Djos Issama	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Defender	Kevin Mondeko	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Defender	Ernest Luzolo	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Defender	Arnold Mavungu	🇨🇩 Blessing FC
	Defender	Issaka Boka	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Defender	Iyemba Ikoyo	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Defender	Pathous Ebunga	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Defender	Magema Mfingi	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Defender	Kalaba Mukeka	🇨🇩 US Tshinkunku
	Midfielder	Peter Mutumosi	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Midfielder	Wamba Kikasa	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Midfielder	Soze Zemanga	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Midfielder	Miche Mika	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Midfielder	Mira Kalonji	🇨🇩 FC Renaissance
	Midfielder	Sangana Onoya	🇨🇩 AS Maniema Union
	Midfielder	Nzengele Mpia	🇨🇩 AS Maniema Union
	Forward	Lobota Bola	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Forward	Mundele Makusu	🇨🇩 FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo
	Forward	Beni Kinzumbi	🇨🇩 TP Mazmebe
	Forward	Nzali Bossu	🇨🇩 TP Mazembe
	Forward	Elie Mpanzu	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Forward	Eric Kabwe	🇨🇩 AS Vita Club
	Forward	Obed Mayamba	🇨🇩 AS Maniema Union
	Forward	Boeny Fortuna	🇨🇩 AC Rangers
	Forward	Jonathan Ikangalombo	🇨🇩 DC Motema Pembe

🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire Managed by 🇨🇮 Souhailo Haïdara
TBD

🇸🇳 Senegal Managed by 🇸🇳 Pape Bouna Thiaw
TBD

🇺🇬 Uganda Managed by 🇷🇸 Milutin "Micho" Sredojević
TBD

 

[The Moroccan]

Group C Squads:
🇲🇦 Morocco Managed by 🇲🇦 Issame Charaï
Morocco was set to select its u23 team following the disbanding of the A' team. However, the FRMF announced the withdrawal from the tournament.

🇸🇩 Sudan Managed by 🇸🇩 Burhan Tia
TBD

🇲🇬 Madagascar Managed by 🇲🇬 Romuald Rakotondrabe
TBD

🇬🇭 Ghana Managed by 🇬🇭 Annor Walker
TBD

 

[The Moroccan]

Group D Squads:
🇲🇱 Mali Managed by 🇲🇱 Nouhoum Diane
TBD

🇦🇴 Angola Managed by 🇵🇹 Pedro Gonçalves
TBD

🇲🇷 Mauritania Managed 🇰🇲 Amir Abdou
TBD

 

[The Moroccan]

Group E Squads:
🇨🇲 Cameroon Managed by 🇨🇲 Alioum Saidou

	Goalkeeper	Leonel Kybien	🇨🇲 Bamboutos Mbouda
	Goalkeeper	Marcelin Mbahbi	🇨🇲 Gazelle Garoua
	Goalkeeper	Jourdain Mbaynassem	🇨🇲 Canon Yaoundé
	Defender	Jérôme Ngom Mbekeli	🇨🇲 Colombe Dja et Lobo
	Defender	Youssoufa Houzaïfi	🇨🇲 Coton Sport
	Defender	Ibrahim Abba	🇨🇲 Coton Sport
	Defender	Che Malone	🇨🇲 Coton Sport
	Defender	Thomas Bawak Etta	🇨🇲 PWD
	Defender	Donatien Tchami	🇨🇲 Bamboutos Mbouda
	Defender	Ibrahim Saidou	🇨🇲 Fauve Azur Yaoundé
	Defender	Yves Alain Dooh Moukoko	🇨🇲 Canon Yaoundé
	Midfielder	Martial Zemba	🇨🇲 Apejes Mfou
	Midfielder	Louis Mbah	🇨🇲 Eding Sport
	Midfielder	Prince Junior Sime	🇨🇲 Eding Sport
	Midfielder	Djawal Kaïba	🇨🇲 Coton Sport
	Midfielder	Valentin Beo Batto	🇨🇲 Colombe Sportive
	Midfielder	Arthur Avom	🇨🇲 Fauve Azur Yaoundé
	Midfielder	Joseph Iyendjock	🇨🇲 Union Douala
	Midfielder	Joël Patten	🇨🇲 Union Douala
	Forward	Harrison Djonkep	🇨🇲 Eding Sport
	Forward	Ramsès Donfack	🇨🇲 Coton Sport
	Forward	Guy Eyike	🇨🇲 Union Douala
	Forward	Emmanuel Beken	🇨🇲 Fovu Baham
	Forward	Junior Kemajou	🇨🇲 Bamboutos Mbouda
	Forward	Roche Foning	🇨🇲 Union Douala

🇨🇬 Congo Managed by 🇨🇬 Jean Élie Ngoya Obackas
TBD

🇳🇪 The Niger Managed by 🇳🇪 Harouna Doula
TBD

 

[millossobek]

I love this idea. Absolutely love it.

I was looking into it and was wondering what the difference was between AFCON and CHAN. And now I found out:

"THE main difference between the African Nations Championships and the African Cup of Nations is that the competing national teams must be composed of players playing in their domestic league." source

I think this is a brilliant idea to not only showcase talent from the local leagues, but also to develop their teams further and give the clubs more and more incentive and exposure! This is truly a "local tournament", homegrown, and I think we need more of this in football! Hopefully Morocco will be able to participate and no political conflicts between the nations come in between the competition!

Brilliant job summarizing the format, history and other features of the Cup @The Moroccan. Will be definitely looking forward to more news about this exciting competition my friend!!

 

[okaranza]

I really like the idea of a national team championship with local players, CONMEBOL should do something similar, maybe Brazil would win 9 out of 10 times but it would be interesting to see.

 

[The Moroccan]

I think this is a brilliant idea to not only showcase talent from the local leagues, but also to develop their teams further and give the clubs more and more incentive and exposure! This is truly a "local tournament", homegrown, and I think we need more of this in football!

And this is exactly the main point of the tournament. The CAF are also planning a Club Super League, which sounds the same as the UEFA Super League but this one definitely has good outcomes on the development of African football!

Hopefully Morocco will be able to participate and no political conflicts between the nations come in between the competition!

Yeah I hope the same, even though politics have established itself in football a long time ago, but nonetheless, Morocco are looking to secure their 3rd title at the heart of our number 1 footballing rivals. That is going to be epic hopefully haha

Brilliant job summarizing the format, history and other features of the Cup @The Moroccan. Will be definitely looking forward to more news about this exciting competition my friend!!

Thanks mate! I appreciate it! I will make sure to give a detailed insight on the rest of the tournament!

I really like the idea of a national team championship with local players, CONMEBOL should do something similar, maybe Brazil would win 9 out of 10 times but it would be interesting to see.

I would pay money to see such tournament in a continent that is a goldmine of talents. Definitely Brazil will dominate it but it would be a hell of a competition.

 

[The Moroccan]

CHAN 2023: Morocco Lays Out Conditions for Team’s Trip to Algeria

 

[The Moroccan]

CHAN 2023: Algeria Refuses to Open its Airspace to Morocco’s National Team

 

[The Moroccan]

Final list of referees appointed for CHAN 2023

 

[BM Kits]

Zambia 🇿🇲 🤒

 

[The Moroccan]

Zambia 🇿🇲 🤒

They've lost the 2nd leg of the qualifiers to Mozambique, I can feel the disappointment given the fact that they lost in Lusaka (their home stadium) despite dominating the possession and chances during the entire game, I've watched the highlights and to be honest, Zambians were very poor at finishing their chances, this resulted in a Mozambique goal in the last ten minutes of the game.

 

[vialli82]

Morocco group isn't that easy mate to end 1st... But i believe / wasn't the case years ago / than Morocco is now stronger and can end 1st of his group.
Always better to continue the competition than confront the 1st from another group.

I will follow it closely. Group B is the most interesting. Well, the issue with African team is that "stars" from good club got or their club to retain them to participate, or themselves prefers to choose their club instead and only play for WC qualifications.
DR Congo got for example tons of good players everywhere in europe. Now i didn't checked but on CAF it's often players from their national league (so by far weaker)

 

[The Moroccan]

Morocco group isn't that easy mate to end 1st... But i believe / wasn't the case years ago / than Morocco is now stronger and can end 1st of his group.
Always better to continue the competition than confront the 1st from another group.

I will follow it closely. Group B is the most interesting. Well, the issue with African team is that "stars" from good club got or their club to retain them to participate, or themselves prefers to choose their club instead and only play for WC qualifications.
DR Congo got for example tons of good players everywhere in europe. Now i didn't checked but on CAF it's often players from their national league (so by far weaker)

The CAN and CHAN are totally two different tournaments (well, sort of). In CHAN, only players who play in teams within Africa are allowed to be called. All players who are qualified for CHAN are qualified also for CAN but not the other way around . I don't know, the last part sounds confusing.

To be honest, it has never been easy, there are always some hidden details that make the difference, you may play with let's say Eswatini and they would still make a surprise, because it's 100% local tournament, you can't track all the players you play against.

Well, the issue with African team is that "stars" from good club got or their club to retain them to participate, or themselves prefers to choose their club instead and only play for WC qualifications.

This was almost the case with Mohamed Salah in the last CAN. And it is also now the case with local players who have been in the World Cup, due to the accumulated fatigue they will surely be replaced, Morocco for instance are playing their U23 local players instead of calling the likes of Attiat-Allah, Jebrane etc...

so by far weaker

They are not weak at all. It is as competitive as CAN. Players always try to do their best so they can be called to the A team. I'd suggest you watch the highlights you'd be surprised .
CHAN 2020
CHAN 2016
CHAN 2014

I couldn't find official highlights by CAF for the 2009, 2011 and 2018 editions but you can manually search them

 

[vialli82]

"Weaker on the paper" i should say haha. Yes sometimes stars can fu** up your the whole teamwork, especially when in Morocco or africans teams case : they play more with local player than their stars. So they found a balance, and then they see for example Demba BA coming from nowhere aswell as many players from Spain/France as the coach as decided to. For defense i should say : yes it makes much much more often your team stronger, aswell as the Keeper.

But when "foreigns" calls-up are coming on Midfield, laterals, strikers (well all the rest) can unbalance totally the team.
Depends if the results follows with local or not of course, but when it follow and they crush their opponent, i would'n't change too much the team as i said.

 

[The Moroccan]

"Weaker on the paper" i should say haha. Yes sometimes stars can fu** up your the whole teamwork, especially when in Morocco or africans teams case : they play more with local player than their stars. So they found a balance, and then they see for example Demba BA coming from nowhere aswell as many players from Spain/France as the coach as decided to. For defense i should say : yes it makes much much more often your team stronger, aswell as the Keeper.

But when "foreigns" calls-up are coming on Midfield, laterals, strikers (well all the rest) can unbalance totally the team.
Depends if the results follows with local or not of course, but when it follow and they crush their opponent, i would'n't change too much the team as i said.

In fact, if the calendar for the team is full as in the case of Morocco, we can't select the usual starters for the squad, because right now Botola is underway and Wydad are playing in the CWC, so starting the U23 is the best choice. But see next post

 

[The Moroccan]

It's official guys, Morocco will not play in CHAN (in other words, Morocco will not win their third consecutive CHAN lol)

I really think it is so ridiculous, Algeria is literally bordering us and they suggested Morocco to take a plane to Tunisia and then another plane from Tunisian airlines to Constantine.

Anyway, it's kicking off : Algeria v Libya in a minute

 

[The Moroccan]

Apparently, you can't watch the live stream from the official YouTube channel of CAF, I hope it's not another useless live broadcast diffusion restriction from Algeria, I have tried with VPN but seems like you can't watch it if you're from Europe, Asia and Americas. But that will NOT stop us from covering the tournament.

I am right now updating the squads