On a night when African stars and legends shone brightly, the official draw pairings for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023 were revealed in a colourful ceremony in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, on Thursday.
Hosts Cote d’Ivoire will play three-time AFCON champions Nigeria, while five-time African champions Cameroon will face defending champions, Senegal in the group stages.
African football stars, Didier Drogba, Mikel Obi, Sadio Mane and Achraf Hakimi, attended the star-studded ceremony.
Record winners Egypt, with seven AFCON titles, will face Ghana Black Stars in Group B. It would be a repeat of the 2010 final which the Pharaohs won at the death.
Also, FIFA 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco should navigate a comfortable Group F containing DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.
The continent’s showpiece event to be hosted in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from January 13 to February 11, 2024, will feature 16 teams in six groups,
Matches will take place at six venues across the country, including newly constructed stadiums in Abidjan, Korhogo and San Pedro.
Group Stage
Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau
Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique
Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Gambia
Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia
Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania
