Statistics favor Warriors ahead of AFCON

By Mbekezeli Ncube

AS the African Cup of Nations tournament draws closer, Next Level Sports TV takes a look at the strength of the Warriors opponents in Group A of the competition. We start with the hosts Egypt who have lifted the coveted silverware a record seven times since its inception in 1957.

Zimbabwe and the Pharaohs of Egypt have met 14 times in their history with the Warriors winning two games, four games resulted in a draw and the Egypt claimed eight victories. The first ever meeting between the two sides was in 1984 in a match that ended in a 1-0 in favour of the Pharaohs.

Zimbabwe grabbed their maiden win against the North Africans in 1992 and they went on to beat the Egyptians in 1995. The Sunday Chidzambwa coached side has a five game losing streak against Egypt. What's more interesting about the two sides is that it is filled with goals, with only one match out of 13 resulting in a goal less stalemate.

The Warriors and The Cranes of Uganda's rivalry dates back to 1981 in a match in which both teams fired blanks. A year later, the Warriors beat the Cranes 2-1.

Zimbabwe has managed to beat their opponents five times ever since their first meeting, losing two and the teams have drawn seven times. The two teams share 25 goals between them and their last meeting was in 2016 when Zimbabwe won 2-0 in an international friendly.

Zimbabwe's other opponents in Group A is Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Warriors have met the Leopards only four times with the Southern Africans winning twice, drawing once and losing once to the large Central African country.

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