Africa Cup of Nations 2022 date: Schedule, kick-off times, TV channel, tournament format and Premier League players still participating including Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is into the round of 16 as a host of Premier League stars leave their clubs in pursuit of international glory.

The tournament was delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and wet weather concerns, but is now set to start this weekend.

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The 2021 AFCON was initially due to be held in June and July 2021, but has been put back to early 2022.

But how long will the competition last and which Premier League players are set to take part? marvelbet369.com has all you need to know...

Afcon 2021: Key dates

The 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to take place in Cameroon from Sunday, January 9 to Sunday, February 6, 2022.

Cameroon will take on Burkina Faso in the opening fixture at the new 60,000-seat Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, which will also host the final.

Riyad Mahrez’s Algeria are AFCON’s defending champions, having won back in 2019 after beating Mane’s Senegal 1-0 in the final.

However, their title defence is officially over as their 3-1 defeat to the Ivory Coast saw them crash out of the tournament at the group stage.

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Afcon 2021: TV channel and live stream

Sky Sports is the main broadcaster for the Africa Cup of Nations in the UK, having agreed a deal to show all 52 games live.

The BBC have also negotiated to show 10 games as part of their coverage that includes two quarter-finals, both semi-finals, and the final.

The Premier League will have up to 40 representatives in the competition headlined by Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

For a full list of England's top-flight clubs that will lose players this month, marvelbet369.com has all the information here.

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What is the Afcon schedule?

The tournaments works in the same format as last summer's European Championships with the 24 teams divided into six groups.

The group winners and runners-ups both then reach the round of 16, as do the four best third-placed teams.

Games will kick-off at 1pm, 4pm and 7pm UK time.

Here is the schedule for the knockouts...

Knockout schedule

The Round of 16 fixtures will take place between January 23-26.

The Quarter-final clashes will then take place three days later from January 29-30.

AFCON's semi-finals will be held on February 2-3 with both the third-place play-off and the final on Sunday, February 6.