Afcon 2021: Everything you need to know about tournament in Cameroon

Watch Ivory Coast v Algeria on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 15:50 GMT on Thursday, 20 January.

The first major football tournament of 2022 is under way as the Africa Cup of Nations takes centre stage.

A host of Premier League and European stars have descended on Cameroon, with the hosts beating Burkina Faso in the opening game.

First scheduled to start in June 2021 but subsequently brought forward to January last year to avoid Cameroon's rainy season, the tournament was delayed to 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) faced criticism over the timing of its continental showpiece, and last month had to address rumours the tournament would be further delayed or moved following the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright said some of the negative media coverage has been «disrespectful» and «tinged with racism».

BBC Sport is showing live games from the tournament, with Thursday's final Group E match between Ivory Coast and Algeria on the BBC Sport website and app, as well as iPlayer, from 15:50 GMT.

Defending champions Algeria are yet to win a game in this tournament and must beat The Elephants to have a chance of going through.

Two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final will also be shown on the BBC.

For the second successive tournament, the Nations Cup has 24 participants.

That means six groups of four, with the top two qualifying for the last 16 alongside the four best-ranked third-placed sides.

Games are being held at 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00 (all times GMT) during the group stages, with the two latter kick-off times being used in the knockout stages from Sunday, 23 January.

The ball being used is the Umbro