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African Cup of Nations 2023: Time, Hosts, Location & Schedule

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African Cup of Nations 2023: Time, Hosts, Location & Schedule
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African Cup of Nations 2023: Dates, Host & Location! AFCON Teams, Groups & Qualifying Schedule

African Cup of Nations 2023 Qualifying Schedule? What is the African Cup of Nations 2023 Qualifying Schedule? Have you ever wanted to find out about the African Cup of Nations 2023 Qualifying Schedule? Well, if you have then worry not because we have prepared an article on the African Cup of Nations 2023 Qualifying Schedule.

African Cup of Nations 2023: Dates, Host & Location! AFCON Teams, Groups & Qualifying Schedule

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2023 or CAN 2023) is scheduled to be the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men’s football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which is the main organizing body behind the AFCON.

The tournament is scheduled to be hosted by Ivory Coast for the second time. The competition will be held from 13th January to 11th February 2024.

The Africa Cup of Nations is the main international association football competition in Africa. It is held by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957.

Since 1968, it has been held every two years. The titleholders at the time of a FIFA Confederations Cup automatically qualify for the competition.

African Cup of Nations 2023 Qualifying Schedule!

CAF has released the official match schedule for the tournament. The 2023 edition of the tournament is scheduled to take place in Ivory Coast.

The competition consisted of 24 teams battling it out to be crowned the ultimate continental champions. The final match is set to be played at the new Alassane Ouattara in Baidjan.

Africa Cup of Nations 2023 schedule!

Here is the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations Schedule which will be hosted by 2015 AFCON Champions Ivory Coast who gained an automatic qualification in September 2017.

Beginning and Ending Date 13 January – 11 February 2024
Qualifying Round 15 Dec 2021 – 15 Sep 2023
Hosting Country Ivory Coast
Participants 24 teams
Hosting venue Ivory Coast

As mentioned before, the tournament will be played from 13th January to 11th February 2024. The first few weeks will be for the group stages. There are six groups, with four teams in each group. The qualifiers will play in the knockout stages and try to reach the finals in July.

Most of the matches will be played at 20:00 hours while some will be played earlier at 17:00 hours.

The final is expected to be played at 21:00 hours on the 6th of February in the new Alassane Ouattara in Baidjan.

Qualified teams

AFCON Finalists
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The following teams qualified for the tournament. Senegal outpowered Egypt in the final of the 2021 AFCON to claim their first AFCON title and both teams are playing it once again.

AFCON 2023 Qualifier Draw & Group seeds

A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau

B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique

C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Gambia

D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola

E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia

F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania

Team Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
app
Last app Performance
Ivory Coast Hosts / Group H winners or runners-up 30 January 2019 25th 2021 Winners (1992, 2015)
Morocco Group K winners or runners-up 24 March 2023 19th 2021 Winners (1976)
Algeria Group F winners 27 March 2023 20th 2021 Winners (1990, 2019)
South Africa Group K winners or runners-up 28 March 2023 11th 2019 Winners (1996)
Senegal Group L winners 28 March 2023 17th 2021 Winners (2021)
Burkina Faso Group B winners or runners-up 28 March 2023 13th 2021 Runners-up (2013)
Tunisia Group J winners or runners-up 28 March 2023 21st 2021 Winners (2004)

Hosts

Tournament favourites Ivory Coast are the hosts this time of the tournament. Being the host nation, they can be expected to get the home support they need to win the AFCON.

On 30 November 2018, CAF stripped Cameroon from hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. However, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said that Cameroon had agreed to host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Consequently, Ivory Coast, original hosts of 2021, will host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and Morocco, the original host of 2023, will host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

On 30 January 2019, the CAF President confirmed the timetable shift, after a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Venues

Africa Cup of Nations have expanded from 16 to 24 teams and at least six venues are expected to be used across five Cameroonian cities.

The six stadiums that will eventually host the matches are the Alassane Ouattara Stadium and Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in the capital Abidjan, the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké, the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San-Pédro and the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro.

The opening ceremony as well as the opening match of the tournament and the final are set to take place at the newly built 60,000 seaters Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Baidjan.

Abidjan Bouaké
Alassane Ouattara Stadium Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium Stade de la Paix
Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 33,000 Capacity: 40,000
Korhogo San PĂ©dro Yamoussoukro
Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium Laurent Pokou Stadium Charles Konan Banny Stadium
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000

Players to watch: African Cup of Nations

The AFCON is one of the most exciting international tournaments played. The standard is high as many players who play in this competition play in Europe in various leagues, The players from Italy, England, Germany and Spain’s top leagues will participate in this AFCON 2023.

So who all do we know?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (MARSEILLE)

He played for Arsenal in England and currently plays for Marseille in France. He is an attacking forward who is known for his pace and goal scoring exploits. He plays for Gabon and will want to impress in his national team with his heroics.

Sadio Mane (AL-NASSR)

He is a star player for the Al-Nassr and also won the Golden Boot award in the Premier League along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019.  He was crucial for the Reds that season. He scored important goals and was a potent threat for Liverpool from the wings throughout the season.

He helped Senegal secure their first AFCON title in the last edition of the tournament.

Mo Salah (LIVERPOOL)

The biggest star of the AFCON, Salah will have no dearth of fans following this season. The tournament is being played in Egypt and Salah will have all the support to help his team to the AFCON trophy. Egypt fell short in the final last time in 2021 and they will want to correct their last step this time.

Salah has been in glorious form for the last two seasons. Along with Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he also won the Golden Boot this time in the Premier League. He is now one of the best players in the world and Egypt will really benefit from having him.

Other players: Victor Osimhen, Patson Daka

African Cup of Nations 2023: Time, Hosts, Location & Schedule

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