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African Nations Championship qualifying concluded this weekend, with Nigeria and Ghana among the heavyweights to fall ahead of the biennial continental showpiece. 
 
The two West African giants may be absent, but there’s plenty of quality among the field of contenders, with the local-based stars from 16 African nations set to compete for the crown in Cameroon. 
 
Here’s Ed Dove’s ranking of the top five contenders for the Chan 2020.

Chan 2020: Ranking the top five favourites

Able to pick from the creme of Tout Puissant Mazembe and AS Vita Club, it’s a surprise that the DRC—champions in 2016—missed out on Morocco 2018. 
 
They’re back for the 2020 event, and will be a strong presence in North Africa, regardless of the players who have moved on from the top flight to foreign shores over the last 18 months. 
 
At the time of writing, Jackson Muleka has the potential to be the tournament’s top scorer—if he remains in domestic football—while Joel Beya is another player to watch.

Democratic Republic of Congo

While Guinea were defeated by Benin in their first match at the Wafu Cup, they bounced back strongly, and went on to win the Plate competition, defeating Cape Verde in the final. 
 
Much of that side will be present for the African Nations Championship, having been part of the team that dumped fancied Senegal out of the qualifiers on penalties. 
 
Coach Lappe Bangoura invests in his players, knows this squad inside out, and in captain Jean Mouste—Player of the Tournament at the Wafu Cup—is a quality midfield general.

Guinea

The reigning champions will be the favourites for the title, and indeed, it’s hard to look too far beyond the North Africans—providing there aren’t too many of their top stars who depart for overseas. 
 
They cruised past Algeria in qualification, without the likes of Salaheddine Saidi, Abdelilah Hafidi, Ayoub El Kaabi, Mahmoud Benhalib, Achraf Dari and Abdelkarim Baadi—any of whom would be automatic picks for any other nation. 
 
Be under no illusion, no one can touch the depth of quality in Morocco’s ranks at the moment.

Morocco

North Africa’s other representatives at the Chan, Tunisia, also represent a fearsome prospect for the continent’s other sides at the Nations Championship. 
 
They dumped Libya out of qualifying, demonstrating their character across two legs to secure a 3-1 aggregate triumph. 
 
Anice Badri, a veteran of the 2017 Nations Cup and the 2018 World Cup, offers notable quality in attacking areas, and he’ll be backed up by the pick of Esperance and Etoile du Sahel talent.

Tunisia

Just pipping the like of Burkina Faso, Togo, Zambia and Uganda to make our top five is Mali, who will head to the Chan on the back of a very strong performance at the Wafu Cup. 
 
The Eagles reached the semi-finals of the West African Championship, with the likes of Mamaye Coulibaly and Moussa Kone excelling, and they were arguably unfortunate to have been eliminated by Senegal in a tempestuous semi-final. 
 
The Eagles smashed Guinea-Bissau 7-0 on aggregate in qualification, have plenty of young talent to call on, and could be dark horses to win a first Chan title

Mali

Chan 2020: Ranking the top five favourites | Goal.com India

With qualifying in the books, who are the favourites for the African Nations Championship?

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