AFCON 2023: Dates, hosts, stadiums, schedule, final and more | OneFootball

Highlights

The African Cup of Nations is one of the most iconic international tournaments in the world. It sees 24 of Africa's finest countries going head to be crowned champions of the continent, with fierce rivalries highlighting the nature of the tournament.

First hosted by Sudan in 1957, it has been held - roughly - every two years since. Egypt have won it the most times - seven - with their last triumph coming in 2010. Meanwhile, Senegal are the current holders after they beat Mohamed Salah's Egypt 4-2 on penalties in the 2021 tournament. Salah has yet to win the tournament throughout his career, acting as the last trophy he has not won throughout his illustrious career.

The tournament in 2024, which was meant to take place in 2023, will continue a fine line of competitions within the continent. As Salah goes head-to-head with several football stars, including Sadio Mané and Pape Matar Sarr, there is hope that this will be one of the best tournaments yet. This article has everything you need to know about the tournament - from hosts and key dates to the finals and stadiums.

Hosts

AFCON 2023 will take place in the Ivory Coast, which beat Guinea, Zambia and Algeria to host the tournament. They were planning to host it in 2021, but it was pushed back due to Cameroon's inability to host the tournament on time in 2019. Meanwhile, the planned schedule in June/July 2023 was pushed to the start of 2024 to stop the matches taking place during the height of the rainy season in the Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast last hosted the tournament in 1984; their one and only time. Cameroon beat Nigeria 3-1 in the final to be crowned champions. Meanwhile, the hosts have won the African Cup of Nations on two separate occasions, in 1992 and 2015.

The 2023 African Cup of Nations takes place from 13th January 2024 until 11th February 2024. It starts with six groups of four teams. They play each other once, where the criteria for qualifying is based on head-to-head results between teams and, secondly, head-to-head goal difference.

The top two teams qualify automatically for the knockout stages. Meanwhile, the four best third-placed teams will also qualify, depending on their number of points and goal difference. The key dates, as outlined below, showcase that each group has a main stadium for every fixture. It is only until the final set of matches, where every team must play at the same time, that two of the teams will play at a different stadium.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Round of 16

The quarter-finals take place on Friday 2nd February 2024 and Saturday 3rd February 2024, involving the winners of the round of 16 matches. Both semi-finals take place on Wednesday 7th February 2024 for a place in the final. The losers of those matches will feature in the third-place match on Saturday 10th February 2024 before the final takes place a day later on Sunday 11th February 2024.

Final

The final of the 2023 African Cup of Nations will take place at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the capital city of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan. It holds 60,000 people, and it is regularly used for the Ivory Coast's matches throughout the year.

The final is on 11 February 2024, kicking off at 20:00 GMT. It will see the champions of Africa be crowned, whilst it is likely that several Premier League stars will feature in the match - potentially Salah or Yves Bissouma. However, to reach the final, they will have to progress through three knockout matches first (Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals).

Stadiums

Six stadiums in five cities are being used for the 2023 AFCON. Three of the stadiums have been newly built in Korhogo, San Pedro and Yamoussoukro. The Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the capital, Abidjan, is the largest venue, and it will host the opening game and final. It will also host every match featuring Ivory Coast in the group stage, with there being an expectation that they will go far into the competition. Each stadium is used for one specific group - and one game in another group - during the group stages, which allows teams to be based in just one location in the opening weeks.

Key Players

24 teams are competing in the 2023 African Cup of Nations. Varying from the African powerhouses of the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Egypt to the underdogs of Nambia and Mauritania, there is a wide range of talent on show. The final squads are still being finalised, particularly if injuries occur in the buildup, but it is clear to see which squads will be the favourites with their star player.

Egypt have Salah as their star man, whilst Nigeria are one of the favourites to win the tournament with Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze - who knocked Newcastle out of the Champions League at the end of 2023 - and Victor Boniface leading from the front.

Holders Senegal continue to have a strong squad with Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pape Matar Sarr and Nicolas Jackson all featuring within their 27-man squad. Coupled with Mane's experience and talent, Senegal remain one of the teams to beat.

Morocco defied expectations to reach the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar. With Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech in their squad, they will be hoping to secure similar success in the Ivory Coast. Sofyan Amrabat is also in Morocco's squad. His performances for his country helped him earn a move to Manchester United from Fiorentina, highlighting his performances for Morocco. Last, but not least, André Onana is starring within Cameroon's squad, despite shaky performances at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar is set to feature in his fifth African Cup of Nations, as his country's star striker.