Yet, already - as that introductory paragraph suggests - this 30th edition of the tournament has endured a torrid build-up.
Original hosts Morocco first asked for a postponement until 2016, citing fears over the Ebola outbreak in west Africa. But, once the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stood firm, the North Africans pulled out altogether.
This was despite the fact that the Moroccan city of Casablanca had hosted Guinea's successful qualification campaign because the threat of Ebola meant the Guineans could not play at home.
Morocco's contradictory position therefore looks decidedly odd. It is nothing, though, compared to the subsequent illogical move by CAF to bestow hosting rights on Equatorial Guinea.
After all, the tiny central African country had been disqualified last July for fielding an ineligible player in a qualifying match. Now, bizarrely, they have qualified for the finals automatically as hosts.
Usefully at least, it is not a new role for Equatorial Guinea to take on. They were, in fact, hosts as recently as 2012 - but, back then, they shared the burden of the duties with neighbouring Gabon and only used their two biggest cities, Bata and Malabo.
This time, Mongomo and Ebebiyin - two outposts even by Equatoguinean standards - will also be responsible for overseeing the progress of part of the group phase as well as hosting a quarter final each.
Unsurprisingly, the short notice given to the two venues has resulted in concerns over infrastructure and security.
Additional fears that even the 5,000-capacity stadium in Ebebiyin will not be filled has led to the country's president Teodoro Obiang Nguema to pay for 40,000 tickets for fans to attend for free.
Of course, by "president", think instead of an oil-rich dictator who has been in power since 1979 and whose human rights abuses have been well-documented by advocacy agencies.
Suddenly, as cynical as it sounds, the CAF decision begins to make some sort of sense.
Seemingly driven by greed at the best of times - why else stage the Cup of Nations so often? - these were actually the worst of times for the organisation.
Their centrepiece tournament - older than the European Championships by three years - was hanging by a thread. It is no wonder that it went to the highest bidder.
And so, regardless of what happens over the next month in Equatorial Guinea, there will be a real sense of unease as to how this championship has still gone ahead.
Maybe, by asking for a postponement, Morocco had the right idea after all.
FULL AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS 2015 FIXTURES
GROUP A
| Date | Venue | |
| Sat 17 Jan, 16:00 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1-1 CONGO | Bata |
| Sat 17 Jan, 19:00 | BURKINA FASO 0-2 GABON | Bata |
| Wed 21 Jan, 16:00 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA 0-0 BURKINA FASO | Bata |
| Wed 21 Jan, 19:00 | GABON 0-1 CONGO | Bata |
| Sun 25 Jan, 18:00 | GABON 0-2 EQUATORIAL GUINEA | Bata |
| Sun 25 Jan, 18:00 | CONGO 2-1 BURKINA FASO | Ebebiyin |
| Group A Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) CONGO | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| (Q) EQUATORIAL GUINEA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| GABON | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| BURKINA FASO | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
GROUP B
| Date | Venue | |
| Sun 18 Jan, 16:00 | ZAMBIA 1-1 CONGO DR | Ebebiyin |
| Sun 18 Jan, 19:00 | TUNISIA 1-1 CAPE VERDE | Ebebiyin |
| Thu 22 Jan, 16:00 | ZAMBIA 1-2 TUNISIA | Ebebiyin |
| Thu 22 Jan, 19:00 | CAPE VERDE 0-0 CONGO DR | Ebebiyin |
| Mon 26 Jan, 18:00 | CAPE VERDE 0-0 ZAMBIA | Ebebiyin |
| Mon 26 Jan, 18:00 | CONGO DR 1-1 TUNISIA | Bata |
| Group B Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) TUNISIA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| (Q) CONGO DR | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| CAPE VERDE | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| ZAMBIA | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
GROUP C
| Date | Venue | |
| Mon 19 Jan, 16:00 | GHANA 1-2 SENEGAL | Mongomo |
| Mon 19 Jan, 19:00 | ALGERIA 3-1 SOUTH AFRICA | Mongomo |
| Fri 23 Jan, 16:00 | GHANA 1-0 ALGERIA | Mongomo |
| Fri 23 Jan, 19:00 | SOUTH AFRICA 1-1 SENEGAL | Mongomo |
| Tue 27 Jan, 18:00 | SOUTH AFRICA 1-2 GHANA | Mongomo |
| Tue 27 Jan, 18:00 | SENEGAL 0-2 ALGERIA | Malabo |
| Group C Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) GHANA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| (Q) ALGERIA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| SENEGAL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
GROUP D
| Date | Venue | |
| Tue 20 Jan, 16:00 | IVORY COAST 1-1 GUINEA | Malabo |
| Tue 20 Jan, 19:00 | MALI 1-1 CAMEROON | Malabo |
| Sat 24 Jan, 16:00 | IVORY COAST 1-1 MALI | Malabo |
| Sat 24 Jan, 19:00 | CAMEROON 1-1 GUINEA | Malabo |
| Wed 28 Jan, 18:00 | CAMEROON 0-1 IVORY COAST | Malabo |
| Wed 28 Jan, 18:00 | GUINEA 1-1 MALI | Mongomo |
| Group D Table | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| (Q) IVORY COAST | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| (Q) GUINEA | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| MALI | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| CAMEROON | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
QUARTER FINALS
| Date | Venue | |
| Sat 31 Jan, 16:00 | CONGO 2-4 DR CONGO | Bata |
| Sat 31 Jan, 19:30 | TUNISIA 1-2 aet EQUATORIAL GUINEA | Bata |
| Sun 1 Feb, 16:00 | GHANA 3-0 GUINEA | Malabo |
| Sun 1 Feb, 19:30 | IVORY COAST 3-1 ALGERIA | Malabo |
SEMI FINALS
| Date | Venue | |
| Wed 4 Feb, 19:00 | DR CONGO v IVORY COAST | Bata |
| Thu 5 Feb, 19:00 | GHANA v EQUATORIAL GUINEA | Malabo |
THIRD-PLACED PLAYOFF
| Date | Venue | |
| Sat 7 Feb, 16:00 | SF LOSER 1 v SF LOSER 2 | Malabo |
FINAL
| Date | Venue | |
| Sun 8 Feb, 19:00 | SF WINNER 1 v SF WINNER 2 | Bata |
TELEVISION COVERAGE
Eurosport has live coverage of all of the matches. ITV4 will show seven matches - one each from the four groups, both semi finals and the Final. ITV4 also has nightly highlights.
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