Niger will be seeking to improve on their best performance at the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship 2022 when they play at the tournament in Algeria.
The West Africans will be making their fourth appearance in the competition with the mission of going beyond the quarter-final stage in 2011 which was their best showing in the history of their participation in the tournament.
Their hopes have been hinged on the way they qualified to play in the seventh edition of the competition meant only for players playing in their domestic leagues when they overcame the tough Togolese side during the qualifiers.
Despite losing the first leg 1-0 to Togo in Lome, Niger overturned the deficit in the second leg and won 3-1 in Cotonou to ensure their second consecutive qualification.
Niger entered the qualifiers in the second round after they were given a bye in the preliminary round.
The home-based Menas are in the three-team in Group E to play Cameroon and Congo.
Coach
Harouna Doula
The 56-year-old tactician was appointed coach of the Niger senior team in 2009. He guided the Mena to secure their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations qualification for the 2012 edition. He was sacked during the tournament after a 2-0 loss to Gabon.
Doula had initially led the Niger team to their first CHAN tournament in 2011 in Sudan and also won the UEMOA tournament the previous year. Players to watch
Soumana Hainikoye Boubacar
The 24-year-old attacking midfielder comes with a lot of experience for the Mena having had spells in Ghana with Aduana Stars, CR Belouizdad and MC Magra in Algeria.
He scored the first goal for Niger when they beat Togo 3-1 to book their qualification for the CHAN tournament.
Issa Mossi Moussa
At age 29, Moussa has represented Niger in two CHAN tournaments already in 2016 and 2020 and this will be his third appearance in the history of the tournament in Algeria next month.
He has three goals in four games in his previous two CHAN tournaments and was on the scoresheet during the qualifiers against Togo.
Match Calendar (Group E)
January 20, 2023: Congo vs. Niger, 20h00 local time, Olympic Stadium, Oran
January 24, 2023: Niger vs. Cameroon, 20h00 local time, Olympic Stadium, Oran
History in CHAN
Niger will be making their fourth African Nations Championship appearance in Algeria seeking to improve on their previous performances.
The home-based Mena made their first appearance in the CHAN tournament in 2011 when it was held in Sudan. They qualified for the knock-out stages of the competition after placing second in Group B.
They qualified again for the 2016 tournament in Rwanda where they ended their campaign at the group stage just like it happened in the last edition which was hosted by Cameroon.
Source: Confederation of African Football