Bafana Bafana to fancy their chances out of Afcon Group D

Bafana Bafana will fancy their chances of advancing to the knockout stages of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament (Afcon), after they were drawn in Group D. The group comprises South Africa, Namibia, Ivory Coast and Morocco.

All the three teams in the group will fancy their chances against Namibia who qualified for the tournament despite a 4-1 loss to Zambia. A win against Namibia and another one against either Morocco or Ivory Coast would in all likelihood be enough to guarantee Bafana a rare place in the knockout stages of the biennial soccer extravaganza.

The Brave Warriors, as they are known, are yet to win a match in the tournament having played six in overall in their last two appearances and their group opponents will know failing to collect points from them could put a damper on their chances of progressing out of their group stages.

Hosts Egypt, winner of the competition a record seven times, were grouped with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe at a spectacular draw ceremony held in Giza on Friday.

Group F in the 24-team tournament brought together the second and third most successful sides in its history.

Cameroon, who won their fifth continental crown last time and were originally set to host the competition, will face four-time winners Ghana.

The tournament will, for the first time, feature 24 teams rather than 16 and will kick off on 21 June.

Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Uganda
Group B: Madagascar, Burundi, Guinea, Nigeria
Group C: Tanzania, Kenya, Algeria, Senegal
Group D: RSA, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Morocco
Group E: Mauritania, Mali, Angola, Tunisia
Group F: Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Cameroon

Additional reporting by AFP