The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is upon us, with 24 teams competing for glory in Egypt.
Cameroon return as defending AFCON champions, having beaten Egypt 2-1 in the 2017 final.
The Indomitable Lions are out to defend their crown, but will face renewed pressure from hosts Egypt, who boasting Mohamed Salah still flying high after his Champions League triumph with Liverpool.
However, Salah's Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane is also in with a shout of glory with Senegal heavily backed to lift the trophy.
Here's what you need to know for the upcoming drama...
Egypt will stage the competition from June 21 until July 19. Six venues across four cities will be used, with three stadia in Cairo and one each in Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia.
The 74,100-capacity Cairo International Stadium will host the final and the opening match. Cameroon were initially selected as hosts but were stripped of the responsibility in November by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) because "a number of compliance conditions" had not been met.
The start of the tournament was also pushed back six days to allow players to rest after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Teams
Egypt, Madagascar, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Mali, Guinea, Algeria, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Benin, Tanzania, South Africa
Which Premier League stars are involved?
Liverpool trio Salah (Egypt), Mane (Senegal), and Naby Keita (Guinea) will be among the Premier League talent on display.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and Tottenham full-back Serge Aurier have been included in Ivory Coast's squad, while Manchester City title-winner Riyad Mahrez is Algeria's star man.
Other top-flight players involved include Arsenal's Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Spurs midfielder Victor Wanyama (Kenya), and Everton's Idrissa Gueye (Senegal).
Since the last competition in 2017, the biennial tournament has been expanded from 16 teams to 24. It will follow a similar format to Euro 2016. Countries have been drawn into six groups of four and will face each group opponent once.
The top two teams are guaranteed places in the knockout stages, while the four best third-place teams will also progress. The tournament will be played in Europe's summer for the first time.
It has previously been held in January and February, causing disputes with European clubs who lose players during the season.
Groups
The top two teams from each group will go through to the knockout stages, along with the top four third-placed teams.
GROUP D: MOROCCO, COTE D’IVOIRE, SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA
South Africa and Namibia will need to put in massive shifts to stand any chance whatsoever of making the knockout stage when they face two of the competition’s favorites, Morocco and Ivory Coast.
MOROCCO
Morocco will be making its 17th appearance at the AFCON finals in Egypt. The Atlas Lions’ best achievement was winning the 1976 edition. Since then, though, they have been runners-up and second-runners up on one occasion apiece, and have ended up in fourth place two times.
NAMIBIA
Namibia will be making only their third AFCON appearance. The Brave Warriors first qualified for the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso while their second appearance was in Ghana 2008. The Southern African nation, however, suffered elimination in the group stage on both occasions.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Bafana Bafana’s biggest-ever achievement in the AFCON finals was hosting and winning the 1996 edition. Two years later, they almost added another to their trophy cabinet but finished as runners-up in Burkina.
This was followed by a third-place finish in 2000. South Africa have qualified for the African championship on 10 occasions.
COTE D’IVOIRE
Ivory Coast have qualified for the AFCON a staggering 23 times. The Elephants have been champions on just two occasions, although they have reached the quarter-finals in six of the last seven editions of the tournament.
They have finished as runners-up twice, in third place on four occasions and in the fourth-place on two occasions as well.
Pos Team P W D L GD Pts
1 Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Ivory Coast 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Namibia 0 0 0 0 0 0
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