AFCON and the Asian Cup: Two Teams to watch at the Mid Season Tournaments
By Ryan Brolly
Had enough sport yet? Of course not, after a congested Christmas period of football, rugby, Horse racing and Darts we are entering the period where we get to enjoy the more niche elements of competitive international football. Before the UEFA European Championships this summer we are graced with its African and Asian counterparts in January, and I have found a team competing in each tournament that you must keep an eye on if you have an interest in watching the tournaments.
Beginning with the African Cup of Nations there are some clear teams to keep watch of; defending champions Senegal come into the tournament as standalone favourites with a very strong squad featuring many players who compete within Europe and they have their talisman Sadio Mané fully fit and performing well in the Saudi Pro League. Alongside Senegal, Morocco are coming into the AFCON after a stellar World Cup in Qatar during 2022 becoming the first African Nation to reach the semi-final stage of the World Cup. I predicted they would go far on the Sporty Scoop podcast released before the 2022 World Cup which proves I have form for picking teams.
A wildcard pick for a team to watch for me is Burkina Faso, the west African nation may not be a giant of world football like Nigeria or the hosts Côte d'Ivoire but they have form coming into the tournament. A semi-finalist in 2021, Burkina Faso have reached this stage in the 2017 and 2013 editions of the tournament in the latter even being runner up to eventual winners Nigeria the anomalies being in 2015 where they didn’t qualify from their group and 2019 where they did not qualify at all. They are an unpredictable team with quality players; former Marseille and current Luton fullback Issa Kaboré, Bournemouth winger Dango Outtara and Leverkusen centre back Edmond Tapsoba are all ones to watch as they make up a team which could provide excitement however, it will take a lot for them to win.
My pick for the Asian Cup is much more straightforward. Japan are the team to beat heading into this tournament, with a fantastic squad filled with some of the best young players in the world right now it will be difficult for anyone to beat them as proven by the 2022 World Cup where they made it out of their group ahead of former world champions Germany whilst also beating another former champion in the form of Spain, alongside this the Japanese national team have only conceded five goals since June 2023 and haven’t lost in a run which saw them play Germany once more additionally they convincingly beat Turkiye and Canada in the same period. Take Kubo, Reo Hatate and Ritsu Doan are just some of their exciting players to watch during this tournament. Having said this, the national teams of Australia, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia will all be looking to make a mark on this tournament and could cause an upset which results in lifting the trophy in February.
Ryan Brolly is a History and International Relations student at Queen’s University Belfast and Sports Editor at The Scoop