THE draw for January's Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) was conducted in Libreville, Gabon where mouth-watering groups were confirmed in a 16-team tournament set for 14 January to 5 February next year.
Tournament hosts, Gabon, will be based in Libreville where they were paired against giants Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Guinea Bissau.
Neighbours Zimbabwe Warriors are in group C along with Senegal, Tunisia and Algeria.
Most South Africans will be rallying behind Zim after South Africa's Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the tournament. CAF have determined that Group A will be based in Libreville‚ Group B in Franceville‚ Group C in Oyem while Group D is in Port Gentil.
The seedings were determined by taking into account the various countries’ performances at the last three Nations Cup finals‚ the last three Nations Cup qualifying campaigns‚ as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finals.
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Among the 16 finalists only Guinea Bissau is the only first time having finished in Group E ahead of Congo and Zambia.
The presence of the "Djurtus" maintains the record of having a Portuguese speaking country at every edition of the finals since 2006.
Angola have made five successive appearances between 2006 and 2013, according to stats from Cafonline.com.
Seven times African champions Egypt are drawn in group D along with Ghana, Mali and Denis Onyango's Uganda.
GROUPS
Group A - (Libreville): Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Guinea Bissau
Group B - (Franceville): Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Zimbabwe
Group C - (Oyem): Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Morocco and Togo
Group D - (Port-Gentill): Ghana, Mali, Egypt and Uganda