The Super Eagles will know the opponents they will know their opponents they will face at the Group stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) slated for Cote d’Ivoire in January, next year, when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) holds the draw today
The draws which will take place at the Parc Des Exposition in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, with the creme-de-la-creme of African football expected to be in attendance, will see the 24 qualified teams drawn into six groups of four teams each, with the two top placed teams in each group, alongside the best four third placed teams, progressing to the round of 16. Super Eagles are in Pot 2 and could be drawn in the same group with Morocco, Senegal, or Egypt.
While speaking on cafonline ahead of today’s draw ceremony, vice-president of the Local Organising Committee, Yacine Idriss Diallo, said the draw was an exciting platform for Cote d’Ivoire to demonstrate its state of readiness and excitement of hosting Africa next year.
“You can feel the excitement in the air not just in Abidjan but across the country. Everywhere you go, people are talking about today’s draw and who they want to see playing against each other.
“Thanks to our continued efforts, working with CAF and local government, the country is fully behind this tournament and starting with the today’s draw , Cote d’Ivoire will demonstrate to Africa and the rest of the world that it is indeed ready to host a successful AFCON”, said Diallo.
Côte d’Ivoire is hosting the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time, after the 1984 tournament in which Cameroon won the title at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny,
This Official Draw according to CAF will be beamed in over 50 countries, with millions of viewers expected to tune in to the event on CAF’s Official YouTube channel as well as across CAF’s Global TV partners.
Countries that qualified for the 2024 Nation’s Cup includes; host country Cote d’Ivoire , Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea, Others are; Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles captain, Mikel John Obi, has arrived in Abidjan ahead of today’s official draw ceremony for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The legendary midfielder shared a video of himself on his Instagram account, with the caption: “Touch down Ivory Coast to Draw for the final phase of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations. Who wants to teach me some French ??”.
Mikel is one of the most decorated players in African football history, having won the Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, FA Cup and Africa Cup of Nations among many other silverware.
The former Chelsea star is also an Olympic medalist having led Nigeria to a bronze medal finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics which incidentally is the last time the country made it to the football event at the Olympic Games.
Mikel who played alongside two Ivorians, Didier Drogba and Salamon Kalou while at Chelsea revealed it was his first time ever in the West African country,
