Two time winners of the CHAN, DR Congo is the favorite of group B of the 7th edition of the competition which starts on January 13 in Algiers. Senegal, Ivory Coast and Uganda are the other nations in the group.
After being crowned in Côte d'Ivoire in the first edition in 2009 and then in Rwanda (2016), the DR Congo is back to conquer the CHAN. The Leopards A have only missed one edition. It is that of 2018. No nation has been more regular in the competition. And naturally, in each of its participations, the DRC is placed among the favorites. Its advantage? The different coaches can rely on four strong clubs that have in their staff talented players and experienced in interclub competitions: TP Mazembe, AS Vita Club, Lupopo and Maniema Union.
Coach Otis Ngoma would like to be the third coach to give the DRC a third star after Santos Muntibile and Florent Ibenge. And the player to watch in his squad is certainly the young striker of AS Vita Club, Mpanzu Elie. To qualify for the CHAN 2022, the DR Congo eliminated Chad by winning both games of the double confrontation (2-1 and 5-0). In preparation, the Congolese have just dominated Libya, 2014 champions, 3-1. For their last test match, they will face Mali on January 10.
Uganda, a regular in the competition
Uganda is one of the most consistent teams at the CHAN. The Cranes have participated in five editions. They only missed out on the first edition. Unfortunately, despite their consistency, they have never managed to reach the second round. Worse still, Uganda has only recorded one win in 15 CHAN finals matches. This year, the Federation almost did not send its selection to Algeria because of lack of funds. It changed its mind and Uganda is currently preparing for the finals. The local Cranes have recorded two draws in friendlies against Sudan (2-2) and Cameroon (1-1). The selection is coached by Serbian Micho Sredojević.
Ivory Coast and Senegal, same fight
Ivory Coast and Senegal are among the African nations with the largest pools of footballers. But every year, several of their nuggets move to Europe. As a result, the clubs and local teams of these two nations are experiencing great difficulties to go far in continental competitions.
Senegal returns to the CHAN after missing four editions. Coached by Pape Thiaw, the local Lions have disposed of their bête noire Guinea, third in the last edition, to qualify. The Ivory Coast has disposed of Burkina Faso in a double confrontation without goal (twice 0-0). Absent from the 2020 edition, the local Elephants had left the competition in 2018 from the first round with only one point.
