Who are the favourites to win the expanded 24-team Africa Cup of Nations, and which teams face an uphill struggle to advance past the group stage in Egypt.

Ahead of the big kick-off on June 21, here's ESPN's Power Ranking for all 24 Afcon qualifiers, delivered, in time-honoured fashion, in reverse chronological order.

24. NAMIBIA

A recent 1-0 friendly victory over Ghana has offered some hope that Namibia can trouble the big boys, but they'll need more than that after being pitted alongside South...

When the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on 21 June in Egypt, all eyes will naturally be on local lad Mohamed Salah, both because he's the home favourite and because he's the best player on the continent. Obviously.

But there are plenty of other names to keep an eye on until the final on 19 July, including a number of Premier League and Europe-based stars that are coming off bright seasons for their clubs.

So who are the players most likely to star at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt?

- Africa...

The 24 qualifiers for the expanded 2019 Africa Cup of Nations are naming their 23-man squads for the showpiece tournament.

Find out below who is on the plane to Egypt, and remember that teams have until the day before their first game at the tournament to replace an injured player.

ALGERIA: The Desert Foxes squad features just one Algeria-based player in Hicham Boudaoui, 19, who plays for Paradou. He  helped his club to finish third in the Algerian league and claim a...

When the Confederation of African Football ratified an expansion to the Africa Cup of Nations in July 2017, introducing eight more teams to the biennial competition, the dynamic of the qualifying program was always going to change.

As had been the case ahead of the European Championship in 2016, for which UEFA had instigated an increase from 16 to 24 teams, many of the continent's heavyweights cruised to the tournament with games to spare.

However, an overall decrease in drama among the bigger nations...