Group C Team Profiles: AFCON 2024
Profile of Cameroon team for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record:
Previous appearances in finals: (20) 1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
Best performance: Winners 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017
Drawn in Group C with Gambia, Guinea and Senegal.
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Coach: Rigobert Song
Defender in his playing days at Metz, Salernitana, Liverpool, West Ham United, FC Cologne, Racing Lens and Galatasaray, he converted the winning penalty for Cameroon to win the Cup of Nations over hosts Nigeria in 2000 and captained the team to a back-to-back triumph in 2002. His coaching career began with Cameroon’s Under-23 side and he took over after the last Cup of Nations which Cameroon hosted but where they failed to get to the final. Song, 47, was coach of the Indomitable Lions at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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Key player: Andre Onana. Age: 25. Goalkeeper.
Onana refused a call-up to the 2017 Cup of Nations finals as he put his club career at Ajax Amsterdam before national team selection and missed out on winning the trophy. He then had a nine-month ban for drug use in 2021 and one year later walked out on the Indomitable Lions at the World Cup in Qatar after an argument with coach Song. But he has been back in action for Cameroon over the last six months and has a chance to make a major impact after damaging his reputation with some recent dreadful mistakes at Manchester United.
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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 46
How they qualified: Top team in Group C ahead of Namibia and Burundi.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Devis Epassy (Abha Club), Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Olympique de Marseille), Andre Onana (Manchester United), Fabrice Ondoa (Nimes)
Defenders: Malcom Bokele (Girondins Bordeaux), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Oumar Gonzalez (Al Raed), Harold Moukoudi (AEK Athens), Tolo Nouhou (Seattle Sounders), Junior Tchamadeu (Stoke City), Enzo Tchato (Montpellier), Christopher Wooh (Stade Rennais), Darling Yongwa (Lorient)
Midfielders: Wilfried Nathan Doualla (Victoria United), Ben Elliott (Reading), Olivier Kemen (Kayserispor), Yvan Neyou (Leganes), Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow), Olivier Ntcham (Samsunspor), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli)
Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Besiktas), Leonel Ateba (Dynamo Douala), Frank Magri (Toulouse), Faris Pemi Moumbagna (Bodo/Glimt), Clinton Njie (Sivasspor), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Damac), Karl Toko Ekambi (Abha Club)
Profile of Gambia team for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record
Previous appearances in finals: (1) 2021
Drawn in Group C with Cameroon, Guinea and Senegal.
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Coach: Tom Saintfiet
Journeyman coach from Belgium who has been in charge of 10 different national teams. At the last finals they advanced to the quarter-finals in a stunning run that included wins over Tunisia and Guinea. The 50-year-old is largely unknown in his own country but has worked across the globe with club jobs in the Faroe Islands, Finland, Jordan, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa and Tanzania. Took over at Gambia in mid-2018, making it one of his longest stints to date.
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Key player: Yankuba Minteh Age: 19. Forward.
The teenager has all the ingredients to emerge as one of the sensations of the tournament in the Ivory Coast, albeit he has made only one appearance for his country. Minteh came on a substitute in Gambia’s decisive qualifier against Congo in September to score and help the small west African country qualify for a second successive tournament. On loan from Newcastle United at Feyenoord, he has also scored in the Champions League this season and been a revelation in the Dutch league.
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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 126
How they qualified: Second placed team in Group G, behind Mali but ahead of Congo and South Sudan.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Baboucarr Gaye (Lokomotiv Sofia), Modou Jobe (Musanze), Lamin Sarr (Eskilsminne)
Defenders: Omar Colley (Besiktas), James Gomez (Sparta Prague), Saidy Janko (Young Boys Berne), Pa Dawda Ngum (Ariana), Jacob Mendy (Wrexham), Bubacarr Sanneh (Zvijerda), Muhammed Sanneh (Banik Ostrava), Noah Sonko-Sundberg (Ludogorets Razgrad), Ibou Touray (Stockport County)
Midfielders: Sanyang Abdoulie (Grenoble), Ebou Adams (Cardiff City), Hamza Barry (Vejle), Yusupha Bobb (Kawkab Marrakech), Ebrima Darboe (LASK Linz), Ablie Jallow (Metz), Sulayman Marreh (Gent), Alasana Manneh (Odense)
Forwards: Muhammed Badamosi (Al Hazem), Musa Barrow (Al Tawoon), Assan Ceesay (Damac), Ebrima Colley (Young Boys Berne), Alieu Fadera (Racing Genk), Yankuba Minteh (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Ali Sowe (Ankaragucu).
Profile of Guinea team for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record:
Previous appearances in finals: (13) 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021
Best performance: Runners up 1976
Drawn in Group C with Cameroon, Gambia and Senegal
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Coach: Kaba Diawara
This is a second successive Cup of Nations in charge for the 48-year-old, who was confirmed in the job just weeks before the last tournament in Cameroon kicked off. It is the first coaching job for the French-born former striker, who had been serving as an assistant coach with the team previously. Diawara won caps for France at under-21 but later played for Guinea. His nomadic club career took in stints at Girondins de Bordeaux, Olympique de Marseille and Paris St Germain in Ligue 1 and Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United in England.
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Key player: Serhou Guirassy. Age: 27. Forward.
A former French youth international, Guirassy is in the form of his life with 17 goals in 14 Bundesliga appearances at VfB Stuttgart this season, only behind Harry Kane in the scoring charts. It is his second season at Stuttgart, who had him on loan from Stade Rennais in the last campaign, and his goals have made him a sought-after commodity – particularly given there is a modest 17.5-million euro ($19.1 million) release clause in his contract. Guirassy switched his allegiance to Guinea in early 2022.
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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 80
How they qualified: Runners up in Group D, behind Egypt but ahead of Malawi and Ethiopia
Squad
Goalkeepers: Moussa Camara (Horoya), Aly Keita (Ostersund), Ibrahim Kone (Hibernians)
Defenders: Mohamed Ali Camara (Young Boys Berne), Antoine Conte (Botev Plovdiv), Mouctar Diakhaby (Valencia), Ibrahim Diakite (Stade Reims), Julian Jeanvier (Kayserispor), Saidou Sow (Racing Strasbourg), Issiaga Sylla (Montpellier), Sekou Oumar Sylla (Cambuur Leeuwarden)
Midfielders: Aguibou Camara (Atromitos), Karim Cisse (Saint-Etienne), Seydouba Cisse (Leganes), Amadou Diawara (Anderlecht), Naby Keita (Werder Bremen), Mory Konate (KV Mechelen), Ilaix Moriba (RB Leipzig), Abdoulaye Toure (Le Havre),
Forwards: Mohamed Bayo (Le Havre), Facinet Conte (Bastia), Morgan Guilavogui (Racing Lens), Serhou Guirassy (VfB Stuttgart), Francois Kamano (Abha), Jose Martinez Kante (Urawa Red Diamonds).
Profile of Senegal team for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record:
Previous appearances in finals: (16) 1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
Best performance: Winners 2021
Drawn in Group C with Cameroon, Gambia and Guinea.
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Coach: Aliou Cisse
Senegal’s coach took them to the title at the last finals, achieving what narrowly failed him as a player. He had missed the decisive penalty when Cameroon edged Senegal in the 2002 Cup of Nations final in Bamako, Mali. Cisse captained Senegal at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where they beat holders France in the opening game and reached the quarter final, and his club career took in spells at Lille and Paris St Germain before he played in the English Premier League with Birmingham City and Portsmouth.
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Key player: Sadio Mane. Age: 31. Forward.
The two-time African Footballer of the Year thrashed home the winning penalty when Senegal won the last Cup of Nations and a few months later repeated the feat as they qualified for the World Cup in Qatar – both times over former clubmate Mohamed Salah’s Egypt. Mane competes at a fifth Cup of Nations finals, having been a regular for his country since 2012 and having amassed 100 caps. He was the second Senegalese player to be voted Africa’s top footballer, after El Hadji Diouf, and has hero status in his country for his exploits at club level, as well as his charitable deeds.
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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 20
How they qualified: Top place in Group L, ahead of Mozambique, Benin and Rwanda
Squad
Goalkeepers: Mory Diaw (Clermont Foot), Seny Dieng (Middlesbrough), Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli Jeddah)
Defenders: Fode Ballo-Toure (Fulham), Abdou Diallo (Al Arabi), Ismail Jakobs (Monaco), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal), Formose Mendy (Lorient), Abdoulaye Ndiaye (Troyes), Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest), Youssouf Sabaly (Real Betis), Abdoulaye Seck (Maccabi Haifa)
Midfielders: Krepin Diatta (Monaco), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Pape Gueye (Olympique de Marseille), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Nampalys Mendy (Racing Lens), Iliman Ndiaye (Olympique de Marseille), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur)
Forwards: Lamine Camara (Metz), Pathe Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Boulaye Dia (Salernitana), Habib Diallo (Al Shabab), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea), Sadio Mane (Al Nassr), Ismailia Sarr (Olympique de Marseille), Abdallah Sima (Rangers).