Ghana
– Previous appearances in finals: (22) 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019.
– Best performance: Winners 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982.
– Drawn in Group C with the Comoros Islands, Gabon and Morocco.
Coach: Milovan Rajevac.
This is Rajevac’s second stint in charge of the ‘Black Stars’, with the 68-year-old Serbian rehired in September after Ghana made a poor start to 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
He helped the team recover to win their group and qualify for the March playoffs.
Rajevac was coach when Ghana reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2010. He then went on to coach Qatar, Algeria and Thailand.
His only previous experience at the Cup of Nations came in 2010 where Ghana lost in the final to Egypt.
Key player: Midfielder Thomas Partey.
The Arsenal midfielder acts as Ghana’s pivot and his steely approach will be needed in Cameroon. It is the third finals for Partey, who was 16 when he went to Spain for trials. He was quickly snapped up and moved through the ranks at Atletico Madrid, making a first team debut in 2013.
Arsenal paid 50 million euros ($56.53 million) for his services in 2020.
Morocco
– Previous appearances in finals: (17) 1972, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019.
– Best performance: Winners 1976.
– Drawn in Group C with Comoros Islands, Gabon and Ghana.
Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic.
The former Yugoslav international, who played at the 1982 World Cup, has been coach of four national teams – Ivory Coast, Algeria, Japan and now Morocco.
This will be his third Cup of Nations finals after coaching at the 2010 finals with the Ivorians and 2013 with Algeria. He also took Algeria to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Morocco hired him after the last Cup of Nations finals and the 69-year-old takes his team into the tournament in Cameroon on the back of nine successive victories.
Key player: Defender Achraf Hakimi.
Spanish-born Hakimi came through the ranks at Real Madrid but made his name out on loan at Borussia Dortmund before a 43-million euro ($48.57 million) move to Inter Milan and then a 60-million euro transfer to Paris St Germain in July.
He was just 17 when he debuted for Morocco and quickly made the left back berth his own, going onto compete at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the last edition of the Cup of Nations finals, in Egypt.
His electric pace has made him one of the game’s more exciting wing backs and a major asset for Morocco’s hopes of a first Nations Cup success in more than 40 years.
Comoros Islands
– Previous appearances in finals: none
– Drawn in Group C with Gabon, Ghana and Morocco
Coach: Amir Abdou.
A social worker from Marseille, Abdou was asked to assist the Comoros side in 2014 before suddenly being thrust into the head coach role when the intended appointee did not take up the post. He has since created a team from the large diaspora in France and taken the small island nation to dizzying new heights.
Abdou previously coached in French amateur football, first in Agen and then at Golfech, where he steered the local town team to a win over third division Luzenac in the French Cup in 2013.
Key player: Striker El Fardou Ben Mohamed.
Comoros’ key attacker started his career at Le Havre and moved to Greece in 2013 where he had a spell at champions Olympiakos. He has found success at Red Star Belgrade, where he has regularly finished their top scorer.
He made his debut for Comoros in 2014, scoring 15 goals in 28 appearances.
Gabon
– Previous appearances in finals: (7) 1994, 1996, 2000, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017.
– Best performance: Quarter-finals in 1996 and 2012.
– Drawn in Group C with the Comoros Islands, Ghana and Morocco.
Coach: Patrice Neveu.
The 67-year-old Frenchman has been a regular feature in African football with previous spells in charge of Niger, Guinea, DR Congo and Mauritania before taking up the Gabon post in March 2019.
He coached at the 2006 Cup of Nations finals with Guinea, where they got to the quarter-finals.
Key player: Forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
French-born with a Spanish mother, Aubameyang was raised in Italy but chose to play for the country of his father, who captained Gabon when they made their maiden Cup of Nations finals appearance in 1994.
Aubameyang was named African Footballer of the Year in 2015 after impressive scoring form in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.
But he goes into the tournament under a cloud after being stripped of the captaincy at Arsenal and dropped from the team for disciplinary reasons.
