AFCON DRAW: Eagles to battle hosts Cote d Ivoire in Group A
Three-time winners Super Eagles have been drawn against hosts Cote d Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Equitorial Guinea in the Group stage of next year’s Championship.
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Just before the draw Eagles who crashed out in the round of 16 at the last edition in Cameroon, dropped in the latest FIFA ranking which forced CAF to seed them in Pot 2 and open them to the possibility of facing one of the highest ranked African teams including the host of the 2023 AFCON, Ivory Coast.
In the draw which was co-hosted by Senegalese music icon, Akon, the Super Eagles of Nigeria found themselves paired with their fierce rivals and hosts, Ivory Coast in Group A.
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The Nigerian side will also have to go through third seeded Equatorial Guinea and 4th seeded Guinea-Bissau which gave the Nigerian team a very tough during the qualification round.
Aside from the Super Eagles’ group, one of the 6 groups that looks very interesting is Group C which features the reigning African champions Senegal and the hosts of the last edition of the competition, Cameroon. Teams like Guinea and The Gambia in the group can only pray for an unlikely upset to make it out of the group.
Below is the complete 2023 AFCON Draw:
Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau.
Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique.
Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, The Gambia.
Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola.
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia.
Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania.