Soccer, Caf Africa Cup Of Countries 2023 In 2024: Osimhen, Salah, Mane And Hakimi Among Stars To Watch

The following teams certified for this version of the event with no debutant nation for the first time since the 2015 edition. 17 teams that participated in the newest version in 2021 are set to return for the occasion. 54 teams initially registered for the qualification, which, like in 2019 and 2021, was held in two rounds.

Zambia’s chances AFCON

Now taking part in underneath former Brighton and Norwich manager Chris Hughton, Ghana headed into their pre-tournament camp in inauspicious type. The 34th version of AFCON initially scheduled for June to July subsequent 12 months in Ivory Coast, will lastly take place between January and February 2024. The Confederation of African Football president (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, confirmed the postponment Sunday within the margins of the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Rabat. They have not progressed past the group phases since and this is their first finals appearance since 2015. But in Daka they’ve a striker able to troubling Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania in Group F.

Ghana Afcon 2023 Squad

One of La Liga’s most interesting will grace AFCON for the first time this month, with Iñaki Williams having made his first Ghana look in July 2022 following a promise he made to his grandfather. But with Hakimi the star of a squad that additionally boasts great depth, it might be a match to remember for the Atlas Lions. It was a monumental feat and Hakimi had his second in the solar when scoring a Panenka penalty within the round-of-16 shootout win in opposition to 2010 champions Spain. But for now, Osimhen would love nothing more than to steer Nigeria to a fourth AFCON title, especially understanding that a healthy objective return would drive up his asking price for Napoli.

• Since CAF’s decided to align itself with European calendars, this is the second time the AFCON is rescheduled firstly of the yr.
• fifty four teams originally registered for the qualification, which, like in 2019 and 2021, was held in two rounds.
• They’re on the lookout for their first title since 1976 however their basic good type over current years hasn’t translated into AFCON success.
• “The revamped FIFA Club World Cup will probably move to the summer and there are also the Euros and Copa America, so it’s a crowded schedule,” he said.
• The Cameroonian stopper retired from worldwide soccer following his expulsion from the nationwide team in the course of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

The 12-team, three-group format was used again two years later, where hosts Tunisia have been humiliated by their first-round elimination. Nigerian ahead Rashidi Yekini, who had led the 1992 match with 4 goals, repeated as the top scorer with 5 objectives. In 2013, the tournament format was switched to being held in odd-numbered years so as not to interfere with the FIFA World Cup.[7] Senegal are the match’s current champions, having beaten Egypt on penalties within the 2021 ultimate. Algeria go into this event unbeaten in 2023, and have strengthened their squad with the addition of Roma’s attacking midfielder Houssem Aouar. The one-time French international switched to the country of his mother and father last summer time and has since performed 5 games for Algeria, scoring twice in a win over Cape Verde.

Host Change

The 2022 World Cup semifinalists Morocco, additionally the best ranked group this edition, will face the problem of two-time winners DR Congo and 2012 champions Zambia in Group F with the bottom ranked team within the competitors, Tanzania being the other. The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations or the AFCON will be the thirty fourth version of the competition and is being hosted by Ivory Coast for the second time. This version of the biennial competitors was initially planned to be held in the summertime of 2013 to avoid scheduling conflicts with the European Leagues. However, CAF caught to the January-February window AFCON is normally held due to opposed climate circumstances in Ivory Coast at the moment. From this season, Premier League could have a winter break so the schedule is unlikely to conflict at least during the group phases of AFCON.

This was the first repeat since Ghana had done it within the Sixties and after Egypt had done it before in 1957 and 1959. The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2024 presents 24 teams the prospect to compete for the title of Africa’s best national group and win continental championships. The last hosts to win AFCON had been Egypt in 2006, who shall be hoping Mohamed Salah can convey his robust kind this season into the Africa Cup of Nations. Salah has 18 objectives for Premier League leaders Liverpool this season and scored 4 targets for Egypt towards Djibouti in November. Egypt are in Group B with Ghana, who’re lacking key gamers Thomas Partey and Tariq Lamptey via damage. The match was initially scheduled for the summer of 2023, however was postponed as a outcome of rainy season within the West African host nation.

Morocco’s Journey To The World Cup Semi-finals Captured In New Documentary

In Qatar, Morocco were exciting outsiders, a staff representing a whole continent and a area of the world that’s typically diminished, in football or otherwise. They now discover themselves amongst rivals who envy them and can cease at nothing to take their place. It is as much as them to indicate whether or not the stress of building on their World Cup success will propel them onward or prove detrimental. Group D, comprising Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Angola, completes the line-up for a tournament that will attain a climax with the final on February 11. The Ivorian clash with three-time champions Nigeria will entice most attention among the many six Group A fixtures. Ivory Coast, seeking a 3rd Cup of Nations title, will face Guinea-Bissau in the opening match on January 13 in Abidjan, the economic hub.

With three objectives in current outings for Senegal, Mane appears to be in excellent kind to spearhead his country’s title defence. Manchester United will lose three players including first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana, while Liverpool are set to lose star man Mohamed Salah. The Africa Cup of Nations gets underneath means in January with probably more than forty Premier League gamers lacking a quantity of weeks of the season as they head to the Ivory Coast. Hakim Ziyech was in gorgeous form on the World Cup, but thirteen months on the 30-year-old is struggling to hold up fitness at Galatasaray, having missed thirteen video games this season with a foot injury and a hamstring downside.

Fast-improving Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, who have qualified for a fourth straight version, full the mini-league. However, European competitions is not going to technically be affected, with the Champions League Round of 16 starting on February and the Europa League and Europa Conference League on February 15. The Atlas Lions shall be seeking to convert that into AFCON success, having not reached the final since shedding to Tunisia in 2004, with Senegal the current reigning champions.

Group C will have the next profitable aspect with 5 titles in Cameroon taking on holders Senegal with Gambia and Guinea making the relaxation of the members in the group. The Atlas Lions only conceded one goal of their first 5 video games on the World Cup earlier than their semi-final loss to France, and only conceded four in complete in 2023. If Morocco’s protection, led by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, can match their World Cup type, then they have a good shot at a primary AFCON title in virtually half a century. A disappointing haul given that the nation has the most effective footballing infrastructure on the continent, funded by King Mohammed VI. Unlike lots of their African counterparts, the federation is well run and they boast an abundance of talents who play membership soccer at the highest stage in Europe. One final and two semi-final appearances in virtually 5 a long time are a poor return for a country often tipped as one of the favourites.

CAF give 30 gold medals to the successful staff, 30 silver medals to the runners-up, 30 bronze medals to the group ranked third and 30 diplomas to the team ranked fourth within the final event. There is currently no official date for squad announcements, regardless of previous championships permitting nations to hold off on making their last squad bulletins till just a few days earlier than to the competitors begins. Mid-January to mid-February of 2024 would be the dates of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Built in 1978, Roumdé Adjia Stadium was remodelled in 2010 and again in 2020, and is the home ground of 15-time Cameroonian champions Coton Sport FC. Roumdé Adjia was within the running to stage 2020 African Nations Championship matches, but was not lastly used.

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For Zambia, Daka has scored five occasions in his final three video games and carries the hopes of a nation that received a shock AFCON title in 2012. A trophy on the worldwide stage would certainly really feel like a weight off his shoulders, given he’s Egypt’s star man once more going into this match. Senegal are the defending champions, and their star-studded squad makes them one of many favourites heading into the event, which begins on thirteen January. But the Lions of Teranga are not alone in boasting world-class talent, making for an AFCON that’s as quickly as once more exhausting to predict.