The Black Stars opposition for the first round of the continental showpiece in Cameroon have been unveiled

Ghana will open their delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament with a first-round clash with Morocco on January 10.

The Black Stars are set to face the Atlas Lions for the second time in six months after the two teams were pitted against each other in Group C which also contains Gabon and Comoros.

It will be their first encounter since Morocco registered a 1-0 victory in an international friendly in Rabat in June.

The draw for the final tournament, which runs between January 9 and February 6 next year, was conducted in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde on Tuesday evening.

Ghana, who are on the search for their fifth tournament title and their first since 1982, will face Morocco in their opening game at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.

The Black Stars will then switch attention to face a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang-led Gabon in their second game on January 14 before wrapping up their group stage assignment with a tie against the Comoros Island who are set to make their debut appearance at the tournament.

CK Akonnor’s outfit will hope to finish among the top two in their group or among the best four third-placed sides to make it to the knock-out stage of the competition.

At Afcon, Ghana and Morocco last faced each other at the 2008 tournament where the former, hosts of the tournament, registered a 2-0 victory in their last group game, courtesy of goals from Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari.
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The Black Stars’ last fixture against Gabon at the continental showpiece ended in a 1-0 victory at the 1989 championship.

The West Africans and Comoros have never met at Afcon but their last encounter in any competition came in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where Mubarak Wakaso and Jordan Ayew scored to ensure passage from the preliminary round to the group stage of the series.

At Cameroon next year, Ghana will hope to make amends for a disappointing outing in Egypt in 2019 where they exited the competition at the Round of 16. It was their first time since 2006 failing to reach the quarter-final of the tournament.