Fixtures, dates, time, venue, favourites… All to know as AFCON begins
The Confederation of African Football’s (CAF’s) highly anticipated 2023 AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) gets underway on Saturday, January 13.
The opening match places the tournament hosts Ivory Coast against Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan the kickoff is at 20:00 GMT, and the final match is scheduled on Sunday, February 11 at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium. The second match of Group A schedule will see Nigeria play Equatorial Guinea at 14:00 GMT the next day. The match will once more take place at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
There are five teams from the FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar participating in this year’s AFCON, with Morocco, the semifinalists, the clear favourites to win the African championship.
Here’s everything you need to know about the AFCON 2023: dates, groups, fixtures, kick-off times, host cities, favourites, past winners and cash prizes.
When will AFCON 2023 start and where will it be played?
On Saturday, January 13, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will begin, with the finals being held in Ivory Coast for the second time.
The 34th edition of the competition will conclude where it started on Sunday, February 11, at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, in two days less than a month.
The twenty-four participating teams have been divided into six groups.
The lineup of each group is as follows…
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.
The four teams ranked third best overall and the top two teams in each group will move on to the round of 16. The bottom teams from each group and the two worst-ranked third-placed teams in each group will be eliminated from the tournament.
AFCON 2023 match Venues
Six stadiums will be used for the tournament across five host cities and they are listed below with their capacity and location
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)
Previous winners of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)
With seven titles, Egypt holds the record for most success in AFCON history. With five titles, Cameroon is the second-most successful team.
Although Ghana has won the trophy four times, it hasn’t happened since 1982. That will still annoy Nigeria, their rivals from West Africa who have won the championship three times.
This year’s hosts Ivory Coast, Algeria (winners in 2019) and DR Congo have won the AFCON twice each. Senegal is defending their one and only Africa Cup of Nations title, while Morocco, the highest–ranked country, has also only won it once, in 1976. Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zambia, South Africa, and Tunisia have all lifted the title once.
Group stage
Saturday January 13
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau – Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (8pm)
Sunday January 14
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)
Below is how the knockout stage will work
There will be three days rest from January 24 to January 27 before the last-16 fixtures will start.
The last 16 stage looks this:
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
Who are the favourites to lift AFCON 2023?
World Cup semifinalists Morocco will be on a quest to win their second AFCON championship after a near-40-year wait, and they are the overwhelming favourite.
The teams that are anticipated to push them closest are reigning champions Senegal and Egypt, the team they defeated in the final of the previous edition. Nigeria is also expected to make a statement as they boast team depth.
How much is the prize money to be won?
The prize money awarded to the winners of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will rise by 40%.
The winners of the latest edition in Ivory Coast will receive 5.5 million pounds ($7m).
3.165 million pounds ($4 million) will go to the runners-up, 1.979 million pounds ($2.5 million) to each of the two semifinalists, and 1.029 million pounds ($1.3 million) to each of the four quarterfinalists.
