Democratic Republic of Congo will face four-time champions Ghana at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Egypt 2025, when they meet in their Group C opener at the Suez Stadium on Friday (kick-off 21:00 local time / 18:00 GMT).
It will be the first meeting between the sides at the finals in this age-group, but DR Congo have played West African teams four times. Three of those games have been against Nigeria, the other was against Mali. DR Congo’s record against West African teams reads P4 D2 L2.
All seven of Ghana’s previous games at the finals against Central African teams have come against Cameroon. They have won two in the 1993 and 2009 finals. Their only loss was in the group stages against Cameroon in 1993 (D4).
DR CONGO FACTS
· DR Congo first featured in the tournament in 1989.
· In their first appearance in 1989, they defeated Angola in the preliminary rounds of two legs, losing the first 2-1 away but winning the second at home 3-1 to advance 4-3 on aggregate. They lost on away goals to Nigeria in the next stage, drawing the first leg 2-2 at home before a 0-0 away draw.
· DR Congo returns to the finals for the first time since 2013. Their last appearance saw them draw their opening game 0-0 against Gabon. They then lost 2-1 against Mali and 3-1 to Nigeria as they left at the group stages.
· DR Congo qualified by winning the UNIFFAC competition. They began with a loss to Congo, before a 3-1 win over Equatorial Guinea in their second group game saw them set up a semi-final against Cameroon, who they defeated on penalties after a 1-1 draw. They then defeated Congo 2-1 in the final.
· DR Congo will be looking to become the third Central African team after Cameroon in 1995 and Congo in 2007 to win the title.
· They have won the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations and TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship, but have never won either of CAF’s age-group men’s tournaments.
GHANA FACTS
· Ghana have been winners four times before. Their last title came in 2021, but they were also champions in 1993, 1999, and 2009. They were runners-up in 2001 and 2013.
· Their best performance in a tournament hosted in North Africa was as runners-up in Algeria in 2013. They lost in the final on penalties to Egypt.
· Ghana have managed to win their last three opening games at the finals, defeating South Africa and Burkina Faso, both 2-0, in 2015 and 2019. They began the 2021 finals with a 4-0 win over Tanzania.
· Ghana had failed to win their opening game in four successive finals prior to winning their last three. They drew with Morocco and Cameroon in 2003 and 2009, the games ended 0-0 and 1-1, respectively. They lost to Nigeria and Egypt, both 2-1, in 2011 and 2013.
· Ghana won their opening game in five successive tournaments between 1991 and 2001. They won 1-0 against Zambia, Mauritius, Mali, and Angola in 1991, 1993, 1999, and 2001. They also defeated Sudan 4-0 in that run in 1997.
· In their previous participation in the finals held in Egypt, Ghana ended third in 1991. They opened with a 1-0 Group Stage win over Zambia.
· In the last two tournaments they have participated in, Ghana have managed to win only two of their six group games, both of which were opening games in 2019 and 2021. In 2019, after winning their opening game against Burkina Faso, they lost their next two games to Senegal and Mali, which saw them eliminated at the group stage.
· In 2021, after winning their opening game against Tanzania, they drew 0-0 against Morocco and lost to Gambia, but did progress to the quarter-finals and went on to win the tournament. Enditem
Source: CAF Communications
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