As competition hosts, the Indomitable Lions will be hard-pressed to start the campaign on a high note with a win.
It is five years since they lifted their last Afcon title and now they are back to claim a sixth one having also previously won the 1984, 1988, 2000 and 2002 editions.
They will come up against Burkina Faso who have never won the tournament, but boast of finishing as runners-up in 2013 as their best Afcon outing as well as the 2017 bronze medal.
Having hosted the competition in 1972, Cameroon are back to stage the tournament again 50 years down the line and they are keen to win it at home after they settled for third position when they played as the hosts.
| Game | Cameroon vs Burkina Faso |
| Date | Sunday, January 9 |
| Time | 18:00 SA Time |
TV Channel, Live Score & How To Watch
| Online Streaming | TV Channel |
|---|---|
| DStv.com/DStv Now App https://www.showmax.com/eng/welcome/za | SuperSport TV’s PSL channel 202/SuperSport TV’s Variety 3 channel 208 |
Squads & Team News
It is unclear whether Cameroon coach Toni Conceicao will field Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who injured his right knee at training on December 30, 2021.
But Choupo-Moting was pictured participating in full training on Saturday.
Four players Pierre Kunde Malong, Jean Efala Konguep, Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Christian Bassogog tested positive for Covid-19 on December 29 and have been in isolation since then.
Covid-19 ravaged the Burkinabe team on the eve of the Cameroon game in what could handicap them in Sunday’s match.
Coach Kamou Malo as well as five players and three other officials tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
The players are Edmond Tapsoba, Oula Abass Traore, Soumaila Ouattara, Saidou Simpore and Aboubacar Dango.
Assistant coach Firmin Sanou will be on the bench in place of Malo and captain Bertrand Traore has slammed the situation as a “scandal” with Burkina Faso suspecting foul play.
Match Preview
While Cameroon are making their 20th appearance at the tournament, Burkina will be participating at the Afcon finals
for the 12th time and are back after missing the last edition in Egypt.
Only Egypt (25), Ivory Coast (24) and Ghana (23) have taken part at in Afcon finals more than Cameroon.
Cameroon and Burkina Faso have previously met twice at the Afcon finals, both meetings being group games with the Indomitable Lions winning 1-0 in 1998, before a 1-1 draw in 2017.
Boosting the Indomitable Lion’s confidence apart from being hosts, is going into this match on the backdrop of four straight wins in their 2022 World Cup qualifiers, including beating Ivory Coast 1-0 in November.
Their opponents Burkina Faso have not tasted defeat in their last eight games, including an international friendly match 0-0 draw against Mauritania and a 3-0 victory over Gabon as they prepared for this tournament.
The Stallions will be trying to avoid being eliminated at the group stage having bowed out eight times in this round of the tournament.
They have reached the semi-finals on three occasions.
