AFCON 2021: Comoros – Team guide, key players and full fixtures

This year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), more than most, is chock full of feel-good stories. Comoros’ is one of those, and is perhaps the most compelling one. Theirs is a team built on solidarity and on a sense of family, both figuratively and literally: their squad contains an uncle and nephew, as well as siblings.

That paints quite the picture. Comoros are resolute and united, and will make sacrifices for the common good readily. While their tally of four goals in qualifying was meagre, they nevertheless drew half of their matches in Group G—this is a proud nation that refuses to be beaten, even in the face of a quality deficit. They only contested five matches in 2021 (again, we do not talk about the FIFA Arab Cup, or its qualifiers, in this parish), and won three of them, including memorably thrashing Seychelles 7-1 in a friendly in September.

Comoros are 38th in Africa and 132nd in the world, according to the FIFA ranking for December 2021.

Comoros has no imprint at all on the AFCON, this being the first time ever the Coelacanths have qualified for the competition.

Coach Amir Abdou, who has been in charge of Comoros since 2014, has already cemented legend status in guiding them this far, and was knighted back in July. Without World Cup qualifiers to be concerned with, Comoros effectively began their AFCON prep last summer. The Coelacanths play mostly with a 4-4-2 shape and in a disciplined mid block, and rely on the link-up and movement of the two strikers to open pockets of space for the wingers to charge into.

Much of the Comoros squad is drawn from the lower reaches of French football, and Youssouf M’Changama is no different. The 31-year-old central midfielder, who can also play a more advanced role, is one of the shining lights of Ligue 2 captaining Guingamp, and will be counted on to bring the creativity from open play and technical quality from set-pieces.

Mohamed El Fardou has a healthy knack for scoring in multiples, and links up well with his strike partner, while at the back captain Nadjim Abdou commands the defence and keeps the distances tight between the lines.

Comoros’ success is about long-term, slow-build chemistry, and so it is far from the youngest squad in the competition. However, 22-year-old Moussa Djoumoi is a striker who made an impact for the Coelacanths in their Arab Cup qualifying loss to Palestine, and his intrepidity – even if he is a little raw – could do something for his chances of getting some minutes in Cameroon.

Ben Salim Boina; Kassim Abdallah, Nadjim Abdou, Kassim Mdahoma, Bendjaloud Youssouf; Said Bakari, Fouad Bachirou, Yacine Bourhane, Youssouf M'Changama; Mohamed El Fardou, Faiz Selemani

Just how far can fearlessness get you? Comoros are about to find out. The pressure is completely off, but it is a delicate balancing act between that and wanting to do yourself justice in your first appearance. Gabon are in disarray, so do not rule out an upset. That said, it is unlikely they will score enough goals to get a shot at third-place progression.