AFCON 2023: All you need to know just before kickoff
The war is about to start again.
The battle to- finish among hard fighting African teams in their quest to clinch the prestigious continental fiesta. The 2023 edition is set to kickoff on January 13 in Cote d Ivoire.
Technically the war begins on Saturday January 13 with hosts Elephants of Ivory Coast filing out against Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium .
The 34th edition of tournament will last two days short of a month and end where it began at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium on Sunday February 11.
The 24 teams taking part have been split into six groups of four.
Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau.
Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique.
Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, The Gambia.
Super Eagles in training with desire to clinch title in Cote d Ivoire.
Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola.
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia.
Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania.
The top two teams in each group and the four best-ranked third-placed teams will advance to the last 16.
Five hosts cities have been chosen with six stadiums used for the tournament.
Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (capacity 60,000)
Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (33,000)
Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro (20,000)
Stade de la Paix, Bouake (40,000)
Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, Korhogo (20,000)
Laurent Pokou Stadium, San Pedro ( 20,000)
AFCON: Previous winners and runners-up…
Year Winners Runners-up
1957 Egypt Ethiopia
1959 Egypt Sudan
1962 Ethiopia Egypt
1963 Ghana Sudan
1965 Ghana Tunisia
1968 DR Congo Ghana
1970 Sudan Ghana
1972 Congo Mali
1974 DR Congo Zambia
1976 Morocco Guinea
1978 Ghana Uganda
1980 Nigeria Algeria
1982 Ghana Libya
1984 Cameroon Nigeria
1986 Egypt Cameroon
1988 Cameroon Nigeria
1990 Algeria Nigeria
1992 Ivory Coast Ghana
1994 Nigeria Zambia
1996 South Africa Tunisia
1998 Egypt South Africa
2000 Cameroon Nigeria
2002 Cameroon Senegal
2004 Tunisia Morocco
2006 Egypt Ivory Coast
2008 Egypt Cameroon
2010 Egypt Ghana
2012 Zambia Ivory Coast
2013 Nigeria Burkina Faso
2015 Ivory Coast Ghana
2017 Cameroon Egypt
2019 Algeria Senegal
2021 Senegal Egypt
Fixtures and schedule…
Saturday January 13
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Sunday January 14
Black stars of Ghana ambitious.
Group A: Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (2pm)
Group B: Egypt vs Mozambique – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
Group B: Ghana vs Cape Verde – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Monday January 15
Group C: Senegal vs The Gambia – Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro (2pm)
Group C: Cameroon vs Guinea – Yamoussoukro (5pm)
Group D: Algeria vs Angola – Stade de la Paix, Bouake (8pm)
Tuesday January 16
Group D: Burkina Faso vs Mauritania – Bouake (2pm)
Group E: Tunisia vs Namibia – Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, Korhogo (5pm)
Group E: Mali vs South Africa – Korhogo (8pm)
Wednesday January 17
Group F: Morocco vs Tanzania – Laurent Pokou Stadium, San Pedro (5pm)
Group F: DR Congo vs Zambia – San Pedro (8pm)
Thursday January 18
Group A: Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (2pm)
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Nigeria – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
Group B: Egypt vs Ghana – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Friday January 19
Group B: Cape Verde vs Mozambique – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (2pm)
Group C: Senegal vs Cameroon – Yamoussoukro (5pm)
Group C: Guinea vs The Gambia – Yamoussoukro (8pm)
Saturday January 20
Group D: Algeria vs Burkina Faso – Bouake (2pm)
Group D: Mauritania vs Angola – Bouake (5pm)
Group E: Tunisia vs Mali – Korhogo (8pm)
Sunday January 21
Group F: Morocco vs DR Congo – San Pedro (2pm)
Group F: Zambia vs Tanzania – San Pedro (5pm)
Group E: South Africa vs Namibia – Korhogo (8pm)
Monday January 22
Group A: Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
Group A: Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
Group B: Cape Verde vs Egypt – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Group B: Mozambique vs Ghana – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Tuesday January 23
Group C: The Gambia vs Cameroon – Bouake (5pm)
Group C: Guinea vs Senegal – Yamoussoukro (5pm)
Group D: Angola vs Burkina Faso – Yamoussoukro (8pm)
Group D: Mauritania vs Algeria – Bouake (8pm)
Wednesday January 24
Group E: Namibia vs Mali – San Pedro (5pm)
Group E: South Africa vs Tunisia – Korhogo (5pm)
Group F: Tanzania vs DR Congo – Korhogo (8pm)
Group F: Zambia vs Morocco – San Pedro (8pm)
Second round
Saturday January 27
SR1: Group D Winner vs 3rd Place Group B/E/F – Bouake (5pm)
SR2: Group A Second Place vs Group C Second Place – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Sunday January 28
SR3: Group A Winner vs 3rd Place Group C/D/E – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
SR4: Group B Second Place vs Group F Second Place -San Pedro (8pm)
Monday January 29
SR5: Group B Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/C/D -Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
SR6: Group C Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/B/F – Yamoussoukro (8pm)
Tuesday January 30
SR7: Group E Winner vs Group D Second Place – Korhogo (5pm)
SR8: Group F Winner vs Group E Second Place – San Pedro (8pm)
Quarter-finals
Friday February 2
QF1: Winner SR2 vs Winner RS1 – Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (5pm)
QF2: Winner SR4 vs Winner SR3 – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Saturday February 3
QF3: Winner SR7 vs Winner RS6 – Bouake (5pm)
QF4: Winner SR5 vs Winner SR8 – Yamoussoukro (8pm)
Semi-finals
Wednesday February 7
SF1: Winner QF1 vs Winner QF4 – Bouake (5pm)
SF2: Winner QF3 vs Winner QF2 – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Third place play-off
Saturday February 10
Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Final
Sunday February 11
Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)