CAF AFCON trophy
24 countries confirm tickets to finals of AFCON 2023 in Cote D’Ivoire
Nigeria’s Super Eagles along with 23 other national teams has confirmed tickets to the 2023 edition of the prestigious continental football championship, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be hosted in Cote D’Ivoire, in January 2024.
In the last qualifying match, played Tuesday night, five-time AFCON champions Cameroon beat Burundi 3-O to complete the star studded list of qualified teams. Nigeria’s Super Eagles, who had already qualified for the tournament confirmed a top spot in their qualifying group by thrashing Sao Tome & Principe by 6-0 in Uyo.
A breakdown of the qualified countries shows that 12 former AFCON champions, including three-time champions Nigeria will be on parade come January 2024.
Hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will be leading a strong West African contingent of 11 countries, including holders Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso among others. Tanzania representing East Africa returns for a second finals after a brave showing in the qualifiers.
The North African contingent is represented by seven-time champions Egypt, World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Egypt will be looking for an eighth unprecedented title, having reached two of the last three finals in 2017 and at the 2021 edition.
There will be no debutants in this edition, as the continent’s football power houses managed to maintain and seal qualification. The 2023 AFCON will take place from January 13th – 11th February, 2024, after it was postponed from its original June 2023 date.
Full list of 24 qualified countries:
Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire (Hosts) and DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique and The Gambia, Namibia, Senegal (defending champions), South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia.
