Highlights of AFCON 2017 qualifiers

Excellence Award: Senegal

Six wins out of six. 100-per cent record for the Teranga Lions. Trailing them is Algeria, Mali and Morocco with five wins each and a draw from the six games. Not forgetting Egypt, who managed three wins from four matches.

Revelation of the Year: Guinea Bissau

A country of a population of less than 2 million, and was rarely spoken about in football circles until recently. In a group with former winners’ Congo and Zambia, they prevailed. Since the beginning of 2010, Guinea Bissau has played a total of 27 matches, an average of less than four games in a year.

Perseverance Prize: Uganda

Losing finalists in 1978, beaten by host Ghana 2-0 in the grand finale, Uganda had to wait for 39 years to realize qualification to the biggest stage in African football. This is a record in itself.

Consistency Prize: Tunisia

Qualification for 2017 means 13 qualifications in a row for the Carthage Eagles since 1994. Between the period, 1994 to 2015, Tunisia won the title at home beating Morocco in the final in 2004 and losing to South Africa in the final in 1996.

Best Attack: Algeria

Stroke of Luck: Burkina Faso

Cautious Kings: Cote d’Ivoire

The holders failed to live up to expectation in the qualifiers. In a group with Sierra Leone and Sudan,

Roll call

Former champions who qualified

Algeria (1990), Cameroon (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002), Cote d’Ivoire (1992, 2015), Egypt (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010), Ghana (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982), Morocco (1976), Congo (1968, 1974), Tunisia (2004)

Former champions who failed to qualify

Ethiopia (1962), Sudan (1970), Congo (1972), Nigeria (1980, 1994, 2013), South Africa (1996), Zambia (2012)