Tournament format, venues, title favorites, groups and prize money for AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast.
The much-anticipated Confederation of African Football (CAF) 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) will kick off on January 13 in Ivory Coast, where the continent’s biggest stars are expected to shine after an impressive performance by their respective clubs and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The tournament features five teams from the tournament in Qatar, with the semi-finalists in the world event – Morocco – the big favorites to become African champions.
Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming AFCON:
Who are the hosts?
The African Cup of Nations is being held for the second time in Ivory Coast.
The matches will take place in six stadiums in five cities.
The capital, Abidjan, offers two venues: the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium and the Alassane Ouattara stadium, which will also host the final.
Yamoussoukro, Bouake, Korhogo and San Pedro will host the remaining matches.
All the time #TotalEnergiesAFCON Statistics for Côte d’Ivoire, host of 2023. 📝
How will these change at the end of #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023? ☄️ pic.twitter.com/UVPxBtXYzp
—CAF (@CAF_Online) November 5, 2023
Which teams have qualified?
- Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
- Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique
- Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea and Gambia
- Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Angola
- Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa and Namibia
- Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania
When are the opening matches?
Ivory Coast will face Guinea-Bissau in the opening match at the Alassane Ouattara stadium in Abidjan on January 13 in Group A. Kick-off will be at 20:00 GMT.
The host nation will have the focus on the first day, but after that, there will be a minimum of two games per day until the group stage.
On matchday two, Nigeria will take on Equatorial Guinea at 14:00 GMT to complete the first round of Group A matches, with the match again being played at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
Abidjan remains the focus for the next two matches of the day as Egypt take on Mozambique before Ghana opens against Cape Verde. Both Group B matches will be played at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium on that day, with kick-off times of 15:00 GMT and 20:00 GMT respectively.
How does the group stage work?
The two best teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.
The last teams and the two third-worst ranked teams in each group will be eliminated from the tournament.
How does the knockout phase work?
There will be three days of rest starting on January 24 before the round of 16 matches begin.
This is what the round of 16 looks like:
- Group D Winners vs Third Place Group B/E/F
- Runner-up of Group A vs Runner-up of Group C
- Winners of Group A vs Third place Group C/D/E
- Second place in Group B vs runner-up in Group F
- Winners of Group B vs Third place Group A/C/D
- Group C Winners vs Third Place Group A/B/F
- Winners of Group E vs runners-up of Group D
- Winners of Group F vs Runners-up of Group E
Who are the previous winners?
Egypt is the country with the most titles in AFCON history, with seven titles. They were also runners-up more recently, in 2017 and 2021.
Cameroon is the second most successful team with five wins.
Ghana have lifted the trophy four times, but not since 1982. However, that will still irritate their West African rivals Nigeria, who have won the title three times.
Hosts Ivory Coast, Algeria (winners in 2019) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have two wins each.
Senegal is defending its only African Cup of Nations crown, while top-ranked Morocco has also been crowned winner just once, and that was in 1976. Tunisia, Zambia, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa and the Republic of the Congo . They have also lifted the title on one occasion.
Constant #TotalEnergiesAFCON Participants! 📝
Does your nation make the list? 👀 pic.twitter.com/nqPd3nkG1x
—CAF (@CAF_Online) October 7, 2023
Who are the favorites?
World Cup semi-finalists Morocco are the clear favorites as they look to end a nearly 40-year wait for their second AFCON crown.
The 1976 winners are the highest-ranked team in the tournament.
The defending champions, Senegal, and the team they defeated in the last edition, Egypt, are expected to be the teams that bring them closest.
Nigeria has the deepest team.
How much is the prize money?
There will be a 40 percent increase in prize money for the winners of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The winners of the last edition in Ivory Coast will receive 5.5 million pounds ($7 million).
The runners-up will receive 3.165 million pounds ($4 million), the two semi-finalists will each receive 1.979 million pounds ($2.5 million) and the four quarterfinalists will take home 1.029 million pounds ($1.3 million). ) each.
Where can you watch the games?
Global listings are available at vidaoccertv.com.
