Beach Soccer AFCON 2022 kicks off today

The fifth edition of the Beach Soccer Africa cup of Nations (AFCON), and 10th of the African qualifiers to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, starts today in Vilankulo in Mozambique.

The seven nations are split into two groups:

Group A
Malawi
Mozambique
Morocco

Group B
Senegal
Uganda
Madagascar
Egypt

Senegal are the defending champions having won their third AFCON trophy (sixth African title) last year at the edition they hosted in Saly. The Lions of Teranga will play their first match on Saturday where they take on Uganda.

Meanwhile, the 2021 runners-up Mozambique will cut the ribbon on this year’s tournament when they go up against debutants Malawi on Friday at 15:30h local time.

Malawi will be looking to emulate the dream first appearance that Mozambique had last year. Os Mambas stunned their opponents on their debut in 2021 when they denied established beach nations such as Egypt and Morocco a place at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup by reaching the final (losing narrowly to Senegal) to win the ticket themselves. Star player Figo went on to become a fan favourite at the world championships in Moscow, where Mozambique impressed against the world’s top teams.

North Africa’s representatives at the Beach Soccer AFCON, Egypt and Morocco, met in the Casablanca Cup just a few months ago where the Pharaohs took the title, while Madagascar – the only team apart from Senegal to have won the African title in the last six editions – will be hoping to relive their success in the 2015 edition.

Uganda’s Sand Cranes made their debut in the last season, reaching the semi-finals, and will have all eyes on taking another step closer to the continental title after investing heavily in the sport in recent years.

The tournament will run from Friday 21 October until Friday 28 October.