Afcon 2021: All is set as Cameroon take on Burkina Faso in the opener

Hosts Cameroon will kick off the 2021 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations facing Burkina Faso in the Group A opener on Sunday evening.

Cameroon enter this game with an aim of registering maximum points in this game as they bid to win the title.

This will be Cameroon and Burkina Faso’s third encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations. Both previous meetings came in the group phase: Cameroon won 1-0 in the 1998 before a 1-1 draw in 2017.

Cameroon are making their 20th appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations, a tally only bettered by Egypt (25), Cote d’Ivoire (24) and Ghana (23).

Egypt (7) are the only team to have won the tournament on more occasions than The Indomitable Lions (5).

Cameroon are hosting the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time, 50 years after it was first held in the country, in 1972, they finished third.

Egypt are the last team to win the AFCON as hosts, it was in 2006.

This is Burkina Faso’s 12th appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations.

In their previous 11 participations, they have either been eliminated in the group stages (8 times) or at least reached the semi-finals (3 times), including the final in 2013 (0-1 v Nigeria).

Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar has scored only one goal in his eight AFCON appearances (18 shots), although that was the winning goal in the 2017 final against Egypt (2-1).