Of the 16 teams for next year’s Total Africa Cup of Nations Gabon 2017, the tiny West Africa nation of Guinea-Bissau will be the only newcomer at the competition.
The other 15 nations that have made it to the continents greatest football showpiece have all played at this competition before and have experience playing at this level.
Gabon qualified automatically as hosts for this biennial event that is organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and features some of the best players in Africa.
Guinea-Bissau defied all odds to top a very strong Group E that included former winners of this competition Congo Republic and Zambia as well as Kenya who were all rated higher.
They won three drew one and lost two of the six games they played in qualifying and, will look to build on this when the tournament come around.
Other nations that have made it to the 31st edition of the event are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Senegal was the only team to have won all six matches in qualifying as they topped Group K. Uganda, second in Group D and Togo, second in Group A qualified as the two best runners-up.
The draw for the competition will be held in Libreville, Gabon on October 19 with the 16 teams being divided into four groups of four teams each for the initial round-robin contest.
The winner of the event will qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, a tournament that will feature the winners from each of the federations.
Guinea-Bissau Only Newcomer At AFCON 2017
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