The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will make a highly anticipated return, featuring some of the notable football figures like Sadio Mane from Al-Nassr and new Chelsea recruit Nicolas Jackson, along with Egypt’s squad led by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who holds the honour of captaining the team.
Egypt boasts the most successful history in Afcon with seven titles to their name. in January and February of 2024. The tournament, organized by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), will take place in Ivory Coast, marking the second time the nation has hosted the finals since 1984.
Originally slated for June and July 2023, the tournament was rescheduled due to concerns about the rainy season. However, it retains 2023 as part of its official title.
The opening match will pit the hosts, known as the Elephants, against one of the teams in Group A. The top two teams and the four best-ranked third-placed teams from the initial six groups will advance to the round of 16, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place match, and the final.
The final will be held at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, on February 11. This edition of the Nations Cup will feature 24 nations, the third time it has been expanded since 2019. Although Ivory Coast is the host, they still participated in the qualifying rounds, finishing second to Zambia in Group H.
These two nations will be joined by 22 others that secured top-two finishes in their respective qualification groups.
All participating teams have taken part in at least one of the past two tournaments, except for Zambia, the 2012 champions, making their first appearance since 2015, and Mozambique, appearing for the first time since 2010.
Central African Republic came close to making their maiden Afcon appearance but narrowly missed out after losing their final fixture in Ghana. The Afcon draw will occur in Abidjan on October 12 and will allocate teams to six groups of four. The group locations are already predetermined, although yet to be confirmed.
These draws are typically star-studded events, with Caf inviting African football legends past and present. Expect to see Ivorian heroes like Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure in attendance, both instrumental in helping the Elephants secure their second Nations Cup title in 2015.
