Co-hosts Uganda will kick off their TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 campaign on Monday evening with a high-stakes showdown against Algeria at Mandela National Stadium in Kampala.
The fixture pits Uganda, appearing at their record-equaling seventh CHAN finals, against one of the tournament’s most consistent sides.
Uganda have never made it out of the group stage in six previous attempts. In contrast, Algeria come into this clash as runners-up from the 2022 edition and fourth-place finishers in 2011.
This will be a rematch of the two nations’ first-ever CHAN encounter back in 2011, where Algeria ran out 2-0 winners in Sudan.
That match marked Uganda’s CHAN debut, and 14 years later, the Cranes will be desperate to flip the script, this time on home soil.
Despite their consistent qualification, Uganda’s CHAN record remains modest: only two wins in 18 games, with their last victory coming against Senegal in 2022 to end a 12-match winless streak.
Their opening-game form is also patchy, with just one win from six. They’ve suffered opening losses to Algeria and Zambia and drawn against Mali, Rwanda, and DR Congo.
The challenge could hardly be tougher. Algeria haven’t lost a group stage match at CHAN in 12 outings, winning seven and drawing five.
At the last tournament, they won all their group games 1-0 and didn’t concede a single goal throughout the competition until the final, where they narrowly lost to Senegal on penalties.
Algeria’s defense has been nearly impenetrable. They’ve gone 622 minutes without conceding at CHAN and boast nine clean sheets in 12 tournament appearances.
They’ve also fared well against East African opposition, having beaten both Uganda and Ethiopia previously while drawing and losing once to Sudan.
This match will also be Algeria’s third time facing a host nation at CHAN. They held Sudan to a draw in 2011’s group stage and lost narrowly to them again in the third-place playoff that year.
For Uganda, the mission is clear: start strong and feed off home crowd energy to shake off years of early exits.
A result here would not only avenge their 2011 loss to Algeria but inject real belief into a side that has often flattered to deceive on this stage.
