Familiarity the defining factor in Ghana group

pulse-ghana admin

October 20, 2016 4:27 PM

The teams drawn into Group D at next year's Afcon in Gabon will need no introductions, writes Fiifi Anaman

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By the time the Afcon draw in Libreville, Gabon was done on Wednesday, fate had decided to throw Ghana, Egypt and Uganda into the same den of competition once again.

The trio are in Group E of CAF's final round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, slugging it out for a singular slot - one of Africa's five - at the Mundial in Russia.

The Afcon draw saw them joined in Group D by Mali, runners-up in the 1972 Afcon and back-to-back third place finishers in 2012 and 2013.

This is a group that is overflowing with familiarity: not only from the angle of the Ghana-Uganda-Egypt reunion, but from a wider perspective as well.

The Group, to be based in the coastal city of Port-Gentil, will be featuring countries that have met each other many times in the last few years.

The Cranes of Uganda, whom the Black Stars will open their campaign against on January 17 at the Stade de Port-Gentil, have been the country's opponents three times in the last two years alone, remaining unbeaten across all three meetings.

2014: Ghana 1-1 Uganda - 2015 AFCON Qualifier

2014: Uganda 1-0 Ghana - 2015 AFCON Qualifier

2016: Ghana 0-0 Uganda - 2018 World Cup Qualifier

Ghana will then face Alain Giresse's Mali four days later (January 21) at the same stadium.

Interestingly, Ghana-Mali meetings have occurred an astonishing seven times in the last seven years, four of them coming in Afcons.

2009: Mali 0-2 Ghana - 2010 World Cup Qualifier

2009: Ghana 2-2 Mali - 2010 World Cup Qualifier

2012: Ghana 2-0 Ghana - 2012 AFCON

2012: Ghana 0-2 Mali - 2012 AFCON

2013: Ghana 1-0 Mali - 2013 AFCON

2013: Mali 3-1 Ghana -2013 AFCON

2015: Ghana 1-1 Mali - International Friendly

The last Ghana fixture is on the 25th of January, still in Port-Gentil, against the Pharoahs of Egypt.

Seven-time champions Egypt, who will be making their return to the Afcon after a three-tournament absence, have met the Black Stars five times in the last seven years, with another meeting scheduled for Alexandria (World Cup qualifier) next month.

2009: Egypt 2-2 Ghana - International Friendly

2010: Ghana 0-1 Egypt - 2010 AFCON

2013: Ghana 3-0 Egypt - International Friendly

2013: Ghana 6-1 Egypt - 2014 World Cup Qualifier

2013: Egypt 2-1 Ghana - 2014 World Cup Qualifier

It is clear this will be a group where teams will do very little research on each other: there's enough knowledge to go on as paths have crossed one too many times in the recent past.

But which two teams will make it into the next round? Ghana, having made it out of the Group stage for the last five straight Afcons, look like the favourites to top the group.

Mali were Bronze medalists in 2012 and 2013, but got knocked out in the Group phase in 2015, and so their prospects look a bit mixed.

Egypt, though, know how to own an Afcon: the last three times they played in this tournament -2006, 2008 and 2010 - they weren't merely participants, they actually won it.

Uganda, though, have not been to an Afcon since their second-place finish in 1978 - where they coincidentally lost a final against Ghana - and so they look like the overwhelming underdogs.

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