Group A

Tunisia
Rwanda
Guinea
DR Congo

Prediction: Tunisia will be desperate to make up for their embarrassing first-round exit the last time they hosted the tournament, ten years ago and with ex-France coach Roger Lemerre at the helm, they have every chance.

Both Guinea and DR Congo look like competing for the runners-up spot behind the hosts, with Rwanda making up the numbers. But how much will DR Congo’s former Huddersfield Town coach Mick Wadsworth miss the goals of injured skipper Shabani Nonda? Or can Titi Camara, once of Liverpool and West Ham United fame, and Celtic’s Dianbobo Balde inspire Guinea to the quarter-finals instead?

Group B

Senegal
Kenya
Burkina Faso
Mali

Prediction: The Lions of Teranga, runners-up two years ago, should have few problems in topping this, the easiest of the four groups, especially as they possess the most impressive keeper in the form of Monaco’s Tony Sylva.

None of these four nations have ever won the tournament, with Kenya never having even recorded a victory, although it would be a shock if Henri Stambouli’s Mali did not grab second place in the final standings.

Mali, who are captained by Lyon’s highly-promising 22-year-old midfielder Mahamadou Diarra, made it all the way to the semi-finals the last time the competition was held in Tunisia in 1994, while little is expected of minnows Burkina Faso.

Group C

Cameroon
Zimbabwe
Algeria
Egypt

Prediction: Expect a straight fight between pre-tournament favourites and holders Cameroon, and four-time winners Egypt, with both nations looking to register what would be a record fifth title win. Winfried Schaefer’s men, led by ex-Liverpool and West Ham defender Rigobert Song, who scored the decisive penalty in the shoot-out win over Senegal two years ago, are playing in memory of their recently-deceased compatriot Marc-Vivien Foé.

Egypt’s participation in Tunisia is the 19th occasion that the Pharaohs have qualified for the finals, a record, although they will certainly miss the experience of their injured captain Hany Ramzy.

Algeria, winners in 1990, and Zimbabwe, who are skippered by 30-year-old Sheffield United winger Peter Ndlovu, can only hope for, at best, a second-placed finish.

Group D

Nigeria
Benin
Morocco
South Africa

Prediction: This ‘group of death’ will see one from either two-time winners Nigeria, Morocco, triumphant in 1976, or 1996 winners South Africa, eliminated at the group stage.

The Super Eagles, who have been beaten at the final hurdle by arch rivals Cameroon on three occasions in the past 24 years, would consider the tournament a failure if they did not at the very least make it to the final on 14 February, while Bafana Bafana’s long list of absentees could in the end prove decisive.

No Quinton Fortune, Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe, Shaun Bartlett and Mark Fish is a big hole to fill and could give Morocco, who count Coventry City midfielder Youssef Safri among their ranks, the chance to take second place in the group and with it a quarter-final berth. For Benin, the best they can hope for is respectability

With this year’s African Cup of Nations being dominated by Premiership players, TheFA.com reveals five potential stars of the tournament that ply their trade in Europe, and may not be so familiar to English-based audiences.

Potential Stars

Hatem Trabelsi (Ajax and Tunisia)

Without a doubt, this 26-year-old right-back is the hosts’ most successful European export, currently playing his football in Eredivisie and the Champions League with Dutch champions Ajax, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United have all reportedly shown an interest in the defender at some point or another this season, although a knee injury sustained while playing in Europe last year put paid to hopes of a move to Old Trafford.

Will be looking to impress the many watching scouts with both his tough tackling and attacking forays into opposition territory.

Nourredine Naybet (Deportivo La Coruña and Morocco)

This is the veteran defenders’ African Nations Cup swansong and if his country are to have any hope of emerging from their ‘group of death’, then he will need to be at his elegant best.

The tall centre-back, once targeted by Liverpool, is not only a commanding presence at the heart of Morocco’s back four, but he is also a real threat from set pieces at the other end of the field. Although now considered past his best at the Riazor, has nonetheless still managed to hold his own in perhaps the toughest league in Europe for defenders.

Will be 34 four days before the final, and how the skipper would love to go out on a high by helping the Atlas Lions to a second African Nations Cup triumph.

Pape Bouba Diop (Lens and Senegal)

Diop is one of the few of Senegal internationals that made such a lasting impression on global audiences at the 2002 World Cup still to be playing his football in France’s Ligue 1.

The 25-year-old defensive midfield player will have a key role to play if the 2002 runners-up are to go one stage further this time around, especially as Internazionale’s Khalilou Fadiga is absent from the tournament through ill health.

The powerful Lens man will be asked to patrol his back four as the likes of El Hadji Diouf and Co go in search of goals at the other end, although there is far more to his game than simple carrying and fetching, as his three goals in Korea/Japan demonstrate.

Samuel Eto'o (Real Mallorca and Cameroon)

The Indomitable Lions front man is carrying a huge burden of responsibility upon his slight shoulders, although that will no doubt simply serve as a catalyst for Mallorca’s captain to produce his best form.

It is one of European football’s worst kept secrets that the man with a £15m price tag on his head will be leaving the Son Moix in the summer and the next three weeks could very well decide his next port of call.

Possesses a lightening turn of pace, composure in front of goal and a matureness well beyond his tender 22 years, all qualities that should see him emerge as the player of the tournament.

Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam (Marseille and Egypt)

This temperamental, yet at times bewitching striker, will need to be firing on all cylinders if Egypt are to have any hope of winning the tournament for a record fifth time.

A scorer of great goals, as opposed to a great goalscorer, this tall, rangy front man is capable of most things when he puts his mind to it. However, the speed with which he works his way through football clubs is perhaps an indication of the difficulty the Pharaohs may have in persuading the ex-Ajax and Celta Vigo forward to do just that.