The 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations continental championship gets underway on Friday, opening a revamped tournament that, as The Inquisitr reported, features some significant “firsts.” For the first time, the field is expanded to 24 teams from the previous 16, making the 2019 AFCON more wide open than ever before.
Also, the tournament will be played in the summer months, rather than in the cooler January-February slot in which AFCON has traditionally been scheduled, as Yahoo! Sports reported. What is not new, however, is the host country, Egypt, which has been the setting for the AFCON competition four times already — with Egypt winning on three of those occasions. Now, Egypt will try to take the first step toward making it four out of five when they take on a troubled Zimbabwe team in the AFCON 2019 opener that will live stream from Cairo.
To find out how to watch a live stream of the Egypt vs. Zimbabwe Friday Africa Cup of Nations opening match, see the streaming information at the bottom of this article. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. Eastern European Time on Friday, June 21, at the 60,000-seat Cairo International Stadium, also known as Stad El Qahira El Dawly, in Cairo, Egypt. In Zimbabwe, that start time will also be 10 p.m., Central Africa Time.
In the United Kingdom, the game starts at 9 p.m. British Summer Time, while in the United States the live stream gets underway at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, or 1 p.m. Pacific. In the Republic of Indonesia, the game gets underway at 4 a.m. Western Indonesian Time on Saturday, June 22, 6 a.m. Eastern.
Though the summer time frame will certainly bring greater worldwide attention to the AFCON tournament than in the 31 years it was forced to conflict with domestic seasons in Europe, there will be a price to be paid. According to a Standard Media report, temperatures in Cairo are expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or approximately 38 Celsius, for Friday’s match — which may explain the late, 10 p.m. local start time.
Also noteworthy is the fact that Zimbabwe’s players will actually take the pitch on Friday night. A pay dispute with the country’s football governing body had sparked threats of a wildcat strike by the Warriors.
To watch a live stream of the Egypt vs. Zimbabwe Africa Cup of Nations opening showdown, go to BeIn Sports Connect USA or download the BeIn Sports app for mobile devices. The BeIn Sports network’s streaming service requires cable or satellite service subscriber login credentials from a carrier that offers BeIn Sports.
But fans without access to the BeIn network also have a way to watch the Egypt-Zimbabwe match stream live for free without a cable or BeIn Sports subscription. Fans may sign up for a free trial of a streaming TV multi-channel package, such as the Sling TV international sports package or Fubo TV . Both of those services require credit card information and subscription fees, but each also comes with a seven-day free trial, and during that week-long period, fans can watch the Pharaohs vs. Warriors match live stream for free.
In Egypt BeIn Sports Connect will also carry the match, while in Zimbabwe and in many other African countries, the South Africa-based Super Sport network carries the game.
Inside the United Kingdom, the live stream is set to be carried by Euro Sport Player , as it will in Spain as well.
In Canada, every 2019 AFCON match is streamed live on the DAZN sports platform. And in Indonesia, BeIn Sports Indonesia will carry the live stream of the AFCON showdown.
For a comprehensive list of outlets around the world that may also offer a live stream of the opening AFCON Egypt vs. Zimbabwe match, be sure to consult the information at Live Soccer TV .
