By Sports Reporter

Zimbabwe will open their 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) campaign with a tough encounter against the tournament hosts Cameroom after the draw was conducted on Monday evening at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé in the capital, Yaounde.

The locally based Zimbabwe Warriors are going to the CHAN finals for the fifth time and will look to improve their best performances that saw them finish fourth in 2014.

The other teams to be drawn in Group A are Burkina Faso, playing in the tournament for the third time and Mali who lost the 2016 final to DR Congo.

The 2020 CHAN will be Zimbabwe’s first continental tournament under the guidance of Croatian coach Zdravko Logarusic who was unveiled as the new national football team coach a week ago.

Meanwhile, defending champions Morocco were seeded in Pool C and will square out with debutants Togo in their opening match.

Togo qualified for their first ever CHAN after beating 2018 finalists Nigeria in the final qualification round.

They will also have Eastern Africa representatives Uganda who have qualified for every edition as well as another CECAFA region team, Rwanda.

In Group D, Zambia, Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania will square out.The tournament’s most successful team DR Congo who have won the tournament two times will headline Pool B where they compete against neighbors Congo Brazaville, 2014 champions Libya and Niger.

The tournament will be held in Cameroon for the first time ever from April 4-25.

The cities of Douala, Limbe and the capital Yaounde will host the matches in the three week bonanza.

Total CHAN 2020 final draw

Group A: Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe

Group B: Libya, DR Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Niger

Group C: Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo

Group D: Zambia, Guinea, Namibia, Tanzania