Five-time African champions Cameroon and Namibia became the 23rd and 24th nations to qualify following Cameroon’s 3-0 win over Burundi in Garoua on Tuesday, to complete the list of qualified nations for the Africa Cup of Nations 2023.
It will be recalled that Cameroon won the AFCON title the last time Cote d’Ivoire hosted the event in 1984.
The CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cote d’Ivoire 2023, Africa’s biggest event with over 500 million TV audiences will kick off in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on 13 January 2024, and end on 11 February 2024.
Ahead of the Final tournament will be the Official Final Draw that will be held in Abidjan on 12 October 2023.
Notably, twelve former African Champions will be participating in AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023. The continent is also fortunate to have its 16 top-ranked teams, according to current FIFA rankings, at the finals.
CAF’s Communication Department reports that the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will be leading a strong West African field with the holders Senegal, four times Champions Ghana and 2013 winners Nigeria all amongst this group that also includes Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia who sealed their qualification in dramatic style.
Tanzania returns for a second finals, their team built on the successes of the strong showings recently in TotalEnergies African Club competitions by Yanga SC and Simba.
Tunisia, who have reached their 16th successive finals, have been to every final since 1994 and were hosts and champions in 2004.
Africa’s first FIFA World Cup Semi-finalists Morocco will be looking to duplicate their performances in Qatar.
Egypt will be looking for an eighth unprecedented title, having reached two of the last three finals in 2017 and at the 2021 edition.
Winners in 1990 and 2019, Algeria returns to go for a third title.
The Qualified Nations for the AFCON 2023 are:
1. Cote d’Ivoire (hosts)
2. Algeria
3. Angola
4. Burkina Faso
5. Cameroon
6. Cape Verde
7. Congo DR
8. Egypt
9. Equatorial Guinea,
10. The Gambia
11. Ghana
12. Guinea
13. Guinea-Bissau
14. Mali
15. Mauritania
16. Morocco
17. Mozambique
18. Namibia
19. Nigeria
20. Senegal
21. South Africa
22. Tanzania
23. Tunisia
24. Zambia
