Ahead of the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt, the official mascot of the tournament has been unveiled by the Local Organizing Committee and it is called The child “Tut”.The mascot is named after the Pharaoh King Tutankhamun.

The AFCON 2019 tournament holds from June 21 to July 19, 2019. This is the first time in the history of the AFCON tournament that 24 teams are competing for the ultimate prize. The top two teams in each group, along with the best four third-placed teams will advance to the knockout phase – the round of 16.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will also be used for the first time in this tournament, from the quarter-final stage.

Egypt won the rights to host the AFCON 2019 ahead of South Africa after Cameroon was stripped of the hosting rights due to poor preparation.

The 24 countries that will do battle to become the next continental champions in this year’s AFCON are: hosts Egypt, Madagascar, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Mali, Guinea, Algeria, Mauritania and Ivory Coast.

Others are: Kenya, Ghana, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Benin, Tanzania and South Africa.