The draw for the 34th edition of the African Football Cup of Nations, scheduled for early 2024 in Ivory Coast, took place today, Thursday, at the Exhibition Center in Abidjan, in front of an elite football stars from the continent. , Ivory Coast.

The 24 teams were divided into 6 groups, with 4 teams in each group, the champion and runner-up of each group qualified for the elimination round of 16, and the 4 best third-placed teams.

The draw resulted in the following groups:

• Group One: Ivory Coast – Nigeria – Equatorial Guinea – Guinea Bissau.
• Second group: Egypt – Ghana – Cape Verde – Mozambique.
• Group Three: Senegal – Cameroon – Guinea – Gambia.
• Group Four: Algeria – Burkina Faso – Mauritania – Angola.
• Group Five: Tunisia – Mali – South Africa – Namibia.
• Group Six: Morocco – Democratic Republic of Congo – Zambia – Tanzania.

A group of African football stars took part in the draw ceremony: retired Nigerian player John Obi Mikel, Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, Paris Saint-Germain full-back, Senegalese Sadio Mane, winger of Saudi Al-Nasr team, retired Ivorian striker Didier Drogba and his companion carrying the championship trophy. Yaya Tour.

Ivory Coast will host the 2023 edition, which was postponed from last June and July to between January 13 and February 11 to avoid the rainy season in the summer months.

The matches will take place in 6 stadiums distributed in 5 cities: Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Bouaké, Korhogo and San Pedro.

The opening match of the tournament will be between the national teams of Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau.

Therefore, the tournament will be held in winter for the second time in a row, after the last edition in Cameroon in early 2022, after it was postponed due to the outbreak of the corona epidemic.

The 24 teams were distributed into 4 levels (according to the FIFA classification), so that each group included a team from each level, and the levels were as follows:

• First stage: Ivory Coast (host), Morocco, Senegal (defending champion), Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt.
• Tier 2: Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Tier Three: South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania.
• Tier 4: Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Gambia, Tanzania.

A feast for the eyes! 😍

Refresh your memory with a collection of the best goals from the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations! ⚽️🍿#TotalEnergiesAFCON pic.twitter.com/ddJnzlpBbJ

— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) October 6, 2023