Morocco and Namibia will kick things off in Group D with both teams having very different aspirations for the tournament.
Morocco are one of the favorites to win the tournament whereas Namibia will simply be looking to avoid humiliation in a tough group which also includes Ivory Coast and South Africa.
Namibia have only featured at 2 previous AFCON finals. They qualified for the 1998 and 2008 competitions but failed to win any of their group matches.
1976 winners Morocco are firm favorites going into this match and will be looking to take control of Group D with a win on Sunday.
Morocco featured at last year’s World Cup but failed to qualify from their group. They lost to Iran and Portugal but claimed a 2-2 draw with Spain which proves what they are capable of.
Their squad is littered with top quality players. Defenders Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid) are part of a resilient back line.
Hakim Ziyech has just enjoyed an incredible season with Dutch club Ajax and the Namibian defenders will be well aware of the 26-year-old winger’s ability.
There have only been 6 previous meetings between the two sides, with Namibia failing to claim a single win. A 5-1 thrashing at the 2008 AFCON will surely be in the back of the player’s minds.
Namibia sit 66 places below Morocco in the FIFA World Rankings but a surprise 1-0 win over Ghana recently will have filled them with confidence heading into the tournament.
They have played 17 matches since the beginning of 2018, and were unbeaten in 11. This run also includes a win over African heavyweights Ivory Coast.
Morocco’s form has not been so impressive. They have lost all three of their friendly matches leading up to the tournament; two of which were against African nations that failed to qualify for this year’s competition.
Stand out performer Hakim Ziyech scored twice against Zambia is their final warm-up match but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from losing 3-2.
Morocco will see this as a must win match. With Ivory Coast and South Africa still to play, Group D is arguably the most competitive of all the 2019 AFCON groups.
Looking at the recent form of both teams, Namibia could cause Morocco some problems. With that being said, Morocco are expected to win comfortably and pick up the 3 points.