AFCON 2021: Group B predictions and analysis
An analysis of the teams in Group B to figure out who has the best chance of advancing to the knockout rounds.
Group B of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations contains Senegal, Zimbabwe, Guinea and Malawi.
Even though Pulse Sports' extensive AFCON 2021 team guides already gives all necessary information on all the teams, we still have to dissect the group to determine who progresses to the round of 16 and who falls at the first hurdle.
The format
The top two teams in the group are guaranteed automatic advancement to the next round while the third-place team also has a chance to progress if they did better than at least two other third-place teams from other groups.
Basically, the only way to not get out of the group stage is to finish fourth or finish third but with a worse record than four other third-place teams, got it? Let us move on.
Group winner
Number one in Africa right now (20th in the world rankings) and 2019 AFCON finalists, Senegal are the clear favourites to top Group B.
Considering the strength (or lack of it) of their opponents, anything less than a perfect group stage would be considered disappointing from the Teranga Lions' point of view.
No disrespect intended to the other three teams, who have meritoriously earned their spot at this AFCON via a gruelling qualification process, but this assessment is based on Senegal's strength.
If head coach Aliou Cisse hopes to put behind the disappointment of losing the last final to Algeria behind him, then his team must signal their intent with a dominant group stage performance.
The player to watch out for in this group is quite an obvious one too, Sadio Mane is one of the best players in the world and will need to stat-pad in the group stages to beat his close competitors for the Golden boot.
Second & third
Guinea are the next best team in terms of the rankings (14th in Africa), pedigree and quality of players spearheaded by Liverpool's mercurial midfielder, Naby Keita.
They should be able to beat Malawi and get a favourable result against Zimbabwe to progress as the second-best team in Group B.
Key match
The game between Guinea and Zimbabwe could prove to be a pivotal one, potentially a winner takes all. If both teams beat Malawi and lose to Senegal as expected, they would go into the last group game against each other with three points apiece and all to play for in the last game.
If that scenario does play out, then it is also more than likely that both teams would adopt a cagey approach and goal difference might have to come into play to decide who qualifies automatically in second and who drops to third.
A draw in that situation would be in the interest of both teams because it means they both would likely advance to the next round with four points each.
A third-placed team with four points should normally go through as one of the top four third-placed teams in the tournament.
Projected standings
| Senegal | 9 pts |
|---|---|
| Guinea | 4 pts |
| Zimbabwe | 4 pts |
| Malawi | 0 pts |
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