Africa Cup of Nations

Two of Germany's World Cup opponents in Algeria and Ghana will battle it out in the group stages of the African Cup of Nations.

The tournament has been overshadowed by the Ebola outbreak, which led to the late replacement of Morocco as the host nation and has seen them subsequently banned from competing at Africa's premier international football tournament.

Held in Equatorial Guinea, a nation of only 700,000, the draw for the first phase pits several of the continent's top teams against each other. Algeria, the continent's top-ranked team, have been paired with Ghana, four-time champions of Africa and now coached by former Chelsea manager Avram Grant.

The Black Stars are likely to boast several Bundesliga faces including Kevin-Prince Boateng of Schalke and Augsburg's Abdul Rahman Baba. The pair are joined in a mouth-watering Group C by Senegal and South Africa.

Elsewhere, hosts Equatorial Guinea will welcome Gabon and Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in Group A. They will be joined by Congo and Burkina Faso, while Ivory Coast take on Cameroon and outsiders Guinea in Group D.

The only country to qualify for the tournament which has been directly affected by the Ebola outbreak are Guinea, where the epidemic began at the start of 2014. The Syli Nationale were forced to play their home qualifying matches in Morocco, which was stripped of the staging rights in early November after insisting the tournament be rescheduled over fears of the spread of the virus.

The African Cup of Nations runs from January 17 to February 8, 2015.

Full group stage draw

Group A: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Burkina Faso

Group B: Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Tunisia

Group C: Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria

Group D: Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon, Mali

rd/pwh (AP, AFP)