The 34th edition of African Cup of Nations begins on Saturday, the 13th of January, 2024 in Cote D’Ivoire.
The AFCON, generally regarded as Africa’s biggest Football competition, began in 1957 in Sudan, with Egypt winning the inaugural edition.
The Egyptians have gone ahead to win the competition a total of 7 times so far, while Cameroon has won the title 5 times.
Ghana have 4 titles, Nigeria have 3 while Cote D’Ivoire, Algeria and DR Congo have 2 titles each.
Eight countries, including the likes of Zambia, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa and current champion, Senegal, have one title each.
Cameroon footballer, Samuel Eto is the highest goal scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations with 18 goals in 29 matches across 6 tournaments.
Ivorien striker, Laurent Pokou is next with 14 goals in 12 matches across 4 tournaments while Nigeria’s Rashidi Yekini had 13 goals in 20 games across 4 tournaments.
The AFCON have grown from 3 teams in 1957 to 4 teams in 1962, 6 teams in 1963, 8 teams in 1968 and 12 teams in 1992.
In 1996, 16 teams took part in the competition for the first time while the number was increased to 24 in 2019.
For this year’s edition, the 24 qualified teams were divided into 6 groups, with 4 teams in each group.
A–(Abidjan)–CIV, Nigeria, Equatorial-Guinea, Guinea-Bissau.
B–(Abidjan)–Egypt, Ghana, Mozambique, Cape Verde.
C–(Yamoussoukro)–Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Gambia.
D–(Bouake)–Algeria, Burkina-Faso, Mauritania, Angola.
E–(Korhogo)–Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia.
F–(San Pedro)– Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania.
In the opening match on Saturday, which is the only match for the day, host Cote D’Ivoire will face fellow West Africans, Guinea-Bissau.
On Sunday, the 14th, three matches will be decided.
A—Nigeria vs Eq. Guinea.
B—Egypt vs Mozambique.
B—Ghana vs Cape Verde.
Group matches will end on the 24th of January, with Round of 16 fixtures billed for between 27th and 30th January.
Quarter-finals are scheduled for 2nd and 3rd February, semi finals on 7th, third-place match on 10th and final match on 11th February.
