Group B Analysis: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi

Group B Analysis: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi - AFCON 2019

Topics: AFCON, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Burundi, Madagascar

Two debuts and two household names will be squaring off in a group which could present some of the 2019 AFCON's biggest upsets.

What is the record of the teams at the AFCON?

Nigeria

Nigeria is a three-time African Cup of Nations winner and will be making its 17th appearance at the tournament in Egypt this summer. The Super Eagles won their first title on home soil in 1980 and added the second at Tunisia 1994.

They secured their most recent title in 2013, following a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the final in South Africa. The West Africans have finished as runners-up on four occasions and have won the bronze medal on seven occasions.

Guinea

The Syli Nationale of Guinea has never won the African championship before despite qualifying to feature in 12 of the 31 editions of the tournament held so far. It's best record at the competition was registered at Ethiopia 1976 when it ended up with a runners-up finish.

With the exception of the 2017 tournament held in Gabon, Guinea has qualified to the quarter-finals in four recent tournaments (2004, 2006, 2008, 2015).

Madagascar

Madagascar has never made an appearance at any of the previous editions of the AFCON. The 2019 finals in Egypt will be the very first of its kind for the Barea.

Burundi

Just like Madagascar, Burundi will be making its debut at the AFCON in Egypt this summer.

Who are the favorites in Group B to progress to the next round?

On paper, Nigeria and Guinea are the most viable candidates to sail through to the next round out of Group B. However, what the qualification phase to this year's AFCON has taught it is that it will be wrong to completely write off Burundi and Madagascar.

For starters, the latter was the first country to qualify for the 2019 championship and even drew with Senegal at home during the campaign. On the other hand, Burundi proved to be a real force against both Mali and Gabon, subsequently denying Aubameyang and his compatriot an appearance in Egypt.

As a result, a potential upset could well and truly present itself in Group A with favorites Nigeria posing to be quite a shadow of the side that won the Africa championship four years ago. Still, the experience could come in handy for both Super Eagles and Syli Nationale against the two sides yet to fully have a taste of the continental tournament.