AFCON
Who plays today, Saturday 13 January, at the AFCON 2023: time of every match
The curtain comes on the 34th Africa Cup of Nations as Ivory Coast host the tournament for the second time in their history.
Ivory Coast stage the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time after hosting the 1984 edition of the tournament. Much has changed since Cameroon secured their first AFCON title some 40 years ago with just eight nations participating at the 14th edition of the competition.
Fast forward to 2024 and twenty four nations will participate at six stadiums in five Ivorian cities and at the outset of the competition, current champions Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt and Morocco are considered tournament favourites with the spotlight set to fall on high profile stars such as Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen or Riyad Mahrez.
AFCON 2023: groups
Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau.
Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique.
Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, The Gambia.
Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola.
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia.
Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania.
AFCON 2023: format
The top two sides in each of the six groups will advance to the Round of 16 and will be joined by four of the best placed third placed teams. The competition then follows a direct knock-out format through to the 11 February final where the champion of Africa will be crowned at the 60,000 capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium in the capital, Abidjan.
How can I watch the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations?
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is set to be a feast of African football staged in the Ivory Coast with fans in the US able to follow all the action via beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, beIN SPORTS en Español and Fanatiz USA.
And you can enjoy the game on the streaming platform fuboTV, which offers users a free trial.
Who plays today:
Saturday 13 January
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (3pm ET)
The home side will have to do without striker Sebastian Haller in Saturday’s opener against Guinea Bissau as the Dortmund player continues his recovery from an ankle injury, Ivorian coach Jean-Louis Gasset confirmed in his pre-match briefing adding that the BVB striker’s availability for their second game in Group A against Nigeria next week was also up in the air.
There were also fitness concerns for forward Nicolas Pepe, who was recalled to the squad after being dropped last year but is struggling with a knee injury, Gasset said.
“Pepe played 30 minutes in last Saturday’s friendly (a 5-1 win over Sierra Leone) but is still not fully fit. He suffered a knee injury at Trabzonspor last month and we have been bringing him along slowly.”
The Ivorians remain overwhelming favourites today against their small west African opponents, with increasing expectations about their chances of success in the tournament.
Guinea Bissau are among a handful of participating teams still to win a game at the finals but coach Baciro Cande is confident they can claim a breakthrough.
Guinea Bissau have overcome their poor sporting infrastructure and lowly ranking by building a team almost exclusively from players in the diaspora in Europe with Lyon’s Mama Balde the player to watch. The ‘Djurtus’ have qualified for the last four successive finals.