Dark Horses to Watch at AFCON

Since its first edition in 1957, the Africa Cup of Nations has seen 32 different tournaments and 14 different countries win the competition -- whilst the likes of Senegal and Mali are yet to win the competition, a wide variety of nations stretching from Sudan to Zambia have won the prestigious trophy. With that being said, let's take a look at some of the dark horses for this year's AFCON.

Senegal reached the 2019 Final and will be expected to go far in Cameroon, and as such, I am not willing to consider them a dark horse. As for their West African neighbor Mali, they can be considered one. After back-to-back third-place finishes in 2012 and 2013, Mali crashed out of the group stage in 2015 and 2017, before losing to the Ivory Coast in the Round of 16.

Whilst their attacking options pale in comparison to other countries -- El Bilal Touré and Kalifa Coulibaly have scored just 2 Ligue goals in 1,153 minutes so far -- their midfield crop boasts a star-studded cast. Red Bull Salzburg's Mohamed Camara, ex Salzburg men Diadie Samassékou and Amadou Haidara, Troyes man Romingiue Kouamé and CAF Champions League winner Aliou Dieng are just a few of the names who'll be patrolling the center of the pitch for Mali.

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