The East African Community (EAC) countries’ flags will fly high in Cairo, Egypt when Afcon 2019 opens in June. One out of every six countries that qualified for the tornourment is from EAC.
The region for the first time in history of Afcon will be represented by four countries; Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania. This is an extra-ordinary feat for a region that isn’t famous for football.
EAC’s football fans will turn their eyes and ears northwards starting mid-June when the tornourment kickoff. East Africa countries have been placed in pot three (Uganda and Burundi) and pot four (Kenya and Tanzania) based on Confederation of African Football national team rankings. This means they will certainly draw continental footballing giants such as Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Senegal, among others. Group draws are scheduled for mid-April.
This will be the 32nd edition of the competition and it will be the first Africa Cup of Nations where the competition format has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams. And it’s Afcon edition for East Africans to shine and party.