Former Super Eagles winger Emmanuel Amunike says though Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria have strong teams, defending champions Algeria are favourites to win the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

“Algeria are the reigning champions, and they are the favourites,” Amunike said. “Senegal is a very strong team, so are the hosts Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia.”

Amunike, who won the 1994 AFCON title with Nigeria Super Eagles and was Tanzania’s coach in the 2019 edition in Egypt, made this statement in an interview with Confederation of African Federation (CAF). 

He added that “It will be very difficult to predict who will win the title because we have so many great teams here. There are big changes in African football, players with a global dimension, it is promising.

“In Europe today, African footballers play the leading roles in their clubs and evolve in the top clubs in the world. That must be reflected in this competition.”

To kick off in Cameroon on January 9, 24 teams will slug it out for the biggest trophy in African football. 

Participating teams include Guinea, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Ghana, Sudan, Gambia, Gabon, Morocco, Mauritania, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Egypt, Comoros.

Others are Algeria, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.