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After changes to the schedule and the host country, the 2021 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is set to finally kick things off this weekend.

The tournament was first scheduled to take place this past June and July, but organizers instead opted to hold it earlier, in January and February of 2021, because of “unfavourable climatic conditions” in the summer months. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to change their plans again, which has now delayed the tournament a whole year to January and February 2022.

Cameroon was initially supposed to host AFCON in 2019, but were stripped of that honour in November 2018 due to delays in preparations for the tournament. Egypt ended up hosting the 2019, while Cameroon was allowed to try again in 2021. The knock-on effect was that the Ivory Coast — originally selected to host in 2021 — would have their chance to host the tournament delayed until 2023, and Guinea’s hosting duties were also pushed back to 2025.

Cameroon takes on Burkina Faso in the tournament’s opening match, scheduled for Sunday, January 9, at Olembe Stadium in the capital city of Yaoundé. The final is scheduled to take place in the same stadium on Sunday, February 6.

Here are the 24 countries that qualified for the tournament:

The Africa Cup of Nations introduced a templated logo system in 2010, when the tournament was hosted in Angola. Since then, the host nation and year in the red circle has been updated for each subsequent tournament, along with the position of the star marking the host country. The presenting sponsor changed from Orange to Total in 2017.

The AFCON logo mirrors the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) logo, but with a red roundel, a black shield and white lettering.

Manufacturer Umbro has created the “Toghu” model as the official match ball for AFCON 2021. The name of the ball and the patterns on it are derived from popular traditional outfits worn in Cameroon. These outfits feature fine multicolored embroidery on a base of black velvet fabric.

NOTE: This preview includes all kit information available as of January 7, 2022. We will endeavour to reflect changes and/or correct inaccuracies as the AFCON 2021 tournament progresses, but information from some countries can be difficult to obtain.

Photos courtesy Footy Headlines, FootballFashion.org, @SFA1936 / Twitter, Football Association of Malawi / Facebook, Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF)