Nigeria, a three-time African soccer champion, will learn its group stage opponents for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, on Thursday when the draw ceremony is held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
The Super Eagles dropped to Pot 2 in the latest FIFA rankings, meaning they are destined to face one of the top four African teams, including hosts Ivory Coast, Senegal, Egypt, and Tunisia.
The Eagles’ chances of being paired with one of the North African teams during the AFCON are high, but they could also be in the same group as Ivory Coast or Senegal.
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Nigeria’s other likely opponents will come from Pots 3 and 4. Pot 3 contains Cape Verde, Zambia, South Africa, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania. Pot 4 contains the lowest-ranked teams in the competition, including Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Gambia, and Tanzania.
Global music star AKON will host the final draw of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cote d’Ivoire 2023.
The final draw will start at 19h00 local time/GMT (21h00 CAT, 22h00 Cairo) at the brand-new Parc Des Expositions venue in Abidjan and will be streamed live on CAF TV (YouTube).
The 34th edition of the AFCON, Africa’s biggest football tournament, will occur in Cote d’Ivoire from 13 January to 11 February 2024.
The Eagles are in Portugal preparing for friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique.
