Playing at the highest level of National team football is every professional football player’s dream, a status which the African Cup of Nations and other Continental competitions have, just right behind the FIFA World Cup.
For every player born or eligible for an African team, playing at the AFCON is an achievement of the sort. Since the inaugural edition of the competition which saw three teams participate in it, the competition has grown in leaps and bounds with the number of participating teams rising.
In 2019, the competition for the first time sees a record number of 24 teams participating and as expected three new countries have registered their names on the attendance sheet for the biggest football fiesta in Africa.
Madagascar, Burundi and Mauritania join thirty-nine others who have featured at the AFCON having qualified for the first time in their histories, however, with the 24-team format more teams are expected to debut at the competition in subsequent edition but until then, here are the teams that have never played at the AFCON
Central African Republic
Ranking: 112
Nickname: Les Fauves
Head coach : Vacant
Captain : Joeffery Kondogbia
Home Ground: Barthélémy Boganda Stadium
Chad
Ranking: 174
Nickname: Les Sao
Head Coach: Moudou Kouta
Captain : Ezechiel N’Douassel
Home Ground: Stade National
Comoros
Ranking: 148
Nickname: Les Coelacantes
Head Coach: Amir Abdou
Captain: Nadjim Abdou
Home Ground: Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh
Djibouti
Ranking: 195
Nickname: Shoremen of The Red Sea
Head Coach: Julien Mette
Captain: Ahmed Daher
Home Ground: Stade du Ville
Eritrea
Ranking: 202
Nickname: Red Sea Camels
Head coach: Alemseged Efrem
Captain: Henok Goitom
Home Ground: Cicero Stadium
Eswatini
Ranking: 141
Nickname: King shield
Head coach : Kosta papic
Captain : Siyanbonga Mduli
Home Ground : Somhlolo National Stadium
Gambia
Ranking: 161
Nickname: The Scorpion
Head coach: Tom Saintfiet
Captain: Pa Modou Jagne
Home Ground : Independence Stadium
Lesotho
Ranking: 145
Nickname: Likuena (Crocodile)
Head coach: Moses Maliehe
Captain : Samuel Setono Kh’etsekile
Home Ground: Setsoto Stadium
São Tomé and Príncipe
Ranking:. 185
Nickname: The Falcons and True Parrots
Head coach: Gustave Clément Nyoumba
Captain: Luis Leal
Home Ground: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho
Seychelles
Ranking: 194
Nickname: Pirates
Head coach: Gavin Jeanne
Captain : Jone jaubert
Home Ground: Stade Linité
Somalia
Ranking: 202
Nickname: Ocean Stars
Head coach: Bashir Hayford
Captain: Hassan Ali Roble “Babay
Home Ground: Mogadishu National Stadium
South Sudan
Ranking: 168
Nickname: Bright Stars
Head Coach: Ramsey Sebit (Caretaker)
Captain : Jumma Genaro
Home Ground: Juba National Stadium
Olalekan Ajimoti – Blogger, Content Writer, and Digital Marketer helping brands and retailers build 8-figure e-commerce since 2016.
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