Gabon will begin their 2022 AFCON campaign with a match against lowly Comoros in Yaounde this Monday.
Venue: Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo ( Yaounde)
Key Statistics
Comoros are making their debut in the African Cup of Nations this year.
They are ranked 38th by FIFA in Africa and are ranked 132 overall.
They have won their last three games, keeping clean sheets in their last two.
Gabon are playing in AFCON for the eighth time in their history.
They are winless in their last three games (D1, L2).
They have failed to score only once in their last eight games.
Gabon are ranked 19th in Africa and 89th in the world by FIFA rankings.
Head to head
This is the first time both teams are meeting in an official game.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Comoros: W-W-W-L-L
Gabon: D-L-L-W-W
Comoros
Comoros defied the odds to book their place in the 2022 AFCON, thanks to a second-place finish in their qualifiers group.
They were put in a group that had big names like Egypt, Kenya and Togo, and were not expected to qualify. But ‘Les Coelecantes’ surprised their naysayers by finishing with nine points, three behind Egypt and two ahead of Kenya.
And now they will look to repeat the trick in the main tournament where they have been grouped alongside bigger names like Morocco, Ghana and Gabon.
The East African side come into this tie on the back of a three game-winning run. In those three games, they scored ten times and conceded just once.
Although those wins came against weaker sides, the AFCON debutants will come into this tie confident of pulling out an upset against Gabon.
Possible Comoros starting line-ups
Ali Ahamada; Kassim Abdallah, Nadjim Abdou, Younn Zahary, Mohamed Youssouf; Faiz Mattoir, Yacine Bourhane, Rafidine Abdullah, Faïz Selemani; Mohamed M’Changama, Ahmed Mogni.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Gabon
Gabon will look to make their eighth appearance in the African Cup of Nations more memorable than their previous outings when they kick-off against Comoros in the capital of Cameroon on Monday.
Patrice Neveu’s side booked their place in this stage of the tournament by finishing second in their qualifiers group, only behind group winners Gambia on goal difference.
However, their preparation for this tournament has been far from perfect, as they have won only two of their last nine matches (D2, L5), conceding 2+ goals in all five of those losses.
They also head into this clash with the pressure of having not won any of their last five AFCON fixtures, a run stretching as far back as January 2015 (D3, L2).
Yet, the 19th-placed Gabon can take confidence in the fact that they face a nation that is 17 places behind them in Africa and 43 places behind them in the world ranking.
They will fancy their chances of winning this game given the experience and talent within their squad compared to their opponents.
Possible Gabon starting line-ups
Anthony Mfa Mezui; Lloyd Palun, Anthony Oyono, Sidney Obissa, David Sambissa; Mario Lemina, André Biyogo Poko, Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali, Jim Allevinah; Denis Bouanga, Axel Méyé.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable (Covid): Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Prediction
Comoros 1-2 Gabon
