• Originally scheduled to be held in June-July 2023, the tournament was moved due to fears about playing it in the rainy season.
• The opening match will feature the hosts, nicknamed the Elephants, against one of the Group A opponents they are drawn against.
Image: FILE
For almost a month in January and February next year, some of the biggest stars in football will be hoping to win the Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Ivory Coast,organised by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
Defending champions Senegal can call upon ample firepower through the likes of Al-Nassr striker Sadio Mane and Chelsea newcomer Nicolas Jackson, while Egypt — the most successful team in Afcon history, with seven titles — are captained by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
The 34th edition of Afcon takes place from January 13 until February 11, 2024.
It is the second time Ivory Coast has hosted the finals, having also welcomed Africa in 1984.
Originally scheduled to be held in June-July 2023, the tournament was moved due to fears about playing it in the rainy season.
Despite the fact it will now be played in 2024, it has kept 2023 as part of its official title.
The opening match will feature the hosts, nicknamed the Elephants, against one of the Group A opponents they are drawn against.
The top two teams and the four best-ranked third-placed teams from the six initial groups will advance to the round of 16, with quarter-finals, semi-finals, a match for third place and the final to follow.
The Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the Ivorian capital Abidjan will host the final on February 11.
This Nations Cup will feature 24 nations for a third time, after the competition was expanded in 2019.
Although Ivory Coast are hosts, they still took part in qualifying, finishing second to Zambia in Group H. Those two nations are joined by a further 22 teams who also finished in the top two of their final qualification groups.
All of the teams taking part have been involved in at least one of the past two tournaments with the exception of Zambia, the 2012 champions, who are appearing for the first time since 2015, and Mozambique, making their fifth appearance and first since 2010.
Central African Republic came closest to being the latest country to reach a maiden Afcon but missed out after losing their final fixture in Ghana, having been ahead.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon were probably the biggest nation to miss out, having featured at three of the last four finals.
The Afcon draw will take place in Abidjan on October 12.
Based on the latest Fifa world rankings, the 24 teams have been allocated to four pots. Although Ivory Coast are currently ranked as the ninth-best nation in Africa, they have been included in pot one.
POT 1 - Ivory Coast (*50), Morocco (13), Senegal (20), Tunisia (29), Algeria (34), Egypt (35)
POT 2 - Nigeria (40), Cameroon (41), Mali (49), Burkina Faso (58), Ghana (60), DR Congo (64)
POT 3 - South Africa (65), Cape Verde (71), Guinea (81), Zambia (82), Equatorial Guinea (92), Mauritania (99)
POT 4 - Guinea-Bissau (106), Mozambique (113), Namibia (114), Angola (117), The Gambia (118), Tanzania (122)
The teams will be drawn in six groups of four. Before the draw, the games in each group will already have been allocated to a set location, although this information is still to be confirmed.
Normally star-studded affairs, Caf always makes sure to invite legends of African football past and present to their draws.
Expect to see Ivorian heroes such as Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure in attendance, both of whom played as the Elephants beat Ghana to claim a second Nations Cup title for their country in 2015.