All eyes will be on Mohamed Salah and his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane during the biggest AFCON to date... but who could make a name for themselves in the next 29 days?

Trezeguet scored the only goal as hosts Egypt opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in Cairo on Friday.

DR CONGO 0-2 UGANDA: Headers from Patrick Kaddu and Emmanuel Okwi gave Uganda a 2-0 victory against DR Congo in their opening group game at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria needed a late goal from substitute Odion Ighalo to claim a 1-0 win over a brave Burundi side playing their first-ever match at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.

Hosts Egypt began their African Cup of nations campaign in fine style by beating Zimbabwe 1-0 at the Cairo International Stadium, but it was their fans who earned most praise in the aftermath.

Mali opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a resounding 4-1 triumph over Mauritania at the Suez Stadium.

Sadio Mane has admitted he would swap the Champions League win with Liverpool to claim AFCON glory with his beloved Senegal. 

Uganda and Zimbabwe played out a 1-1 draw at the Africa Cup of Nations, but both teams will walk away very disappointed not to take all three points.

DR Congo face likely elimination after the result. But multiple players on the losing side made sure they will not be going home empty-handed after grabbing a post-game selfie with Salah.

Amr Warda has been reinstated in Egypt's African Cup of Nations squad, the country's FA has confirmed. Warda had originally been dropped for after claims made by model Merhan Keller.

Defending champion Cameroon and Ghana drew 0-0 at the African Cup of Nations to leave their group wide open with one round of games to play. It was the second scoreless game of the day.

BURUNDI 0-2 GUINEA: Guinea face an anxious wait to see if they have clinched a place in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations following a 2-0 win over 10-man Burundi.

DR Congo put themselves in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 4-0 thumping of Zimbabwe.

Morocco captain Medhi Benatia made a generous gesture by personally paying for a village to watch the Atlas Lions' African Cup of Nations game against South Africa. 

Christian Atsu has been ruled out of the rest of the Africa Cup of Nations with a hamstring tear, officials said on Tuesday.

Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita's chances of rejoining his Guinea team-mates for any potential further Africa Cup of Nations involvement look slim.

Riyad Mahrez scored a wonderful goal as Algeria underlined their status as one of the favourites for the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-0 win over Guinea which booked their place in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool's Sadio Mane has stepped down from taking Senegal's penalties at the Africa Cup of Nations after missing twice from the spot in the tournament.

Ferjani Sassi struck the winning spot-kick as Tunisia beat Ghana 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out to secure their place in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

Senegal reached the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2006 on Wednesday night courtesy of a 1-0 win over Benin in the quarter-finals.

Wilfried Bony and Serey Die missed penalties in the shootout as Algeria sealed a 4-3 victory over the Ivory Coast following an entertaining 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final draw on Thursday.

Ramy Bensebaini was involved in a bizarre altercation with Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha during Algeria's Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final victory over Ivory Coast on Thursday.

Raucous celebrations in Paris and other French cities quickly soured after fans resorted to vandalism and arson, bringing traffic in the French capital to a standstill after Algeria's Africa Cup win in Egypt.

The sporting action starts to hot up over the weekend, with plenty on offer for armchair fans should the weather take an unexpected turn for the worse.

Victor Wanyama is poised to collect his British passport over the coming weeks. The 28-year-old Tottenham midfielder put off a proposed move abroad last year to ensure he qualified.

Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi believes Africa Cup of Nations semi-finalists Nigeria are standing on the brink of a golden future.

A bizarre own goal in extra time sent Senegal through to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-0 win against Tunisia. Senegal will face Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Friday evening.

Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez curled in an injury-time free-kick to send Algeria into the final, prompting wild celebrations as fans set off fireworks on Blackstock Road, in Highbury.

Algeria beat Senegal to win the Africa Cup of Nations after Baghdad Bounedjah's heavily deflected strike just two minutes into the final.

Pep Guardiola has agreed with Jurgen Klopp that the amount of games players have to play is ludicrous. Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez won the African Cup of Nations with Algeria on Friday.

Aston Villa have taken their summer spending spree up to £99.25m with the signing of Trezeguet from Kasimpasa. The 24-year-old has joined for £8.75m.

The Dutch legend has been confirmed as the club's new head of La Masia academy after he was sacked as Cameroon assistant manager after a poor AFCON campaign.

The Senegalese forward will return to the club on Monday after a 16-day break following his exertions at the African Cup of Nations - late calls will be made on Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino.

JOE BERNSTEIN AT ANFIELD: Possibly Jurgen Klopp's only flaw for the majority of last season was refusing to believe anyone in his squad was capable of giving his front three a rest.

Ivory Coast international Wilfried Bony, who cost Manchester City £28million as recently as 2015, spent the latter half of last season on loan from Swansea at Al-Arabi in Qatar.

 Wilfried Bony has revealed he is close to moving abroad after leaving Swansea this summer - and is training with League Two Newport County to keep his fitness up.

Didier Drogba has backed Sadio Mane to be a front-runner for the Ballon d'Or and hopes the Senegalese winger can become only the second African to win the award - after George Weah in 1995.

Instantly naming Mahrez as the best current Arab player in the world, former City midfielder Nasri admitted he had reached his verdict 'because (Mahrez) is Algerian and I like his style of play.'

The tournament was moved to the summer months following a decision by their executive committee in 2017. However, a decision has been made to reverse that call on Wednesday.

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: An entertaining reaction can be expected now the Africa Cup of Nations will be reverting to its previous place in the calendar from 2021.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has warned that the decision to move the African Cup of Nations back to a January slot will have an impact on the club's transfer policy.

Liverpool are facing up to the prospect of potentially being without star man Mohamed Salah for four months next season, if the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic games move to a spring slot.

Ghana were on the verge of becoming the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final when they were awarded a penalty in added time of extra time after a Luis Suarez's handball.

Headingley will host the third Ashes Test as England aim to draw level with Australia in Yorkshire, starting on Thursday. Sportsmail's DAVID LLOYD has everything you need to know.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Josh Hazlewood has put Australia in complete control of the fourth Ashes Test after grabbing three quick wickets late on during the third day at Old Trafford.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Australia retain the Ashes and in truth they have been the better team. They planned well in advance and got their attack spot on.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Finally I have an answer to my question. How do you get Steve Smith out? A straight one from Chris Woakes. Simple.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Sportsmail columnist David Lloyd was present as always to cast his expert and unique opinion over the action as New Zealand hosted England at the Bay Oval.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: That was a sobering start for England's new era. It will be alarming for the management, and for English coaches, that their batsmen are technically inferior to New Zealand's.

Marcus Rashford has won the Premier League Player of the Month award for his superb performances in January. The Manchester United striker has been rejuvenated under boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.