Who will succeed Senegal, winner of the last African Cup of Nations in February 2022? The 34th edition of the CAN begins this Saturday, January 13, 2024. It will take place in Côte d’Ivoire, which has not hosted the tournament since 1984. Status report before the opening match between the Ivorians and Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan.
The African Cup of Nations will take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024. The knockout stage will begin on January 27. The matches will take place at 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. mainland France time, or 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time, in Ivory Coast.
Initially scheduled for June and July 2023, the CAN was postponed by six months because the period corresponded to the rainy season in Ivory Coast. “We don’t want to take the risk of having a competition in the flood. It would not be good for African football and its image,” declared Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Between April and July, floods killed at least 30 people in Ivory Coast.
The 52 CAN matches will be broadcast exclusively by beIN Sports in France.
For the third edition in a row, the CAN will take place with 24 teams divided into six groups of four, in a format identical to the Euro. The first two in each group qualify for the round of 16, as do the four best third-placed teams.
CAN 2021, organized in Cameroon and which had been postponed to January-February 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was won by Senegal, victorious over Egypt in the final (0-0, 4-2 in shoot to the net). The Lions of Teranga have never won the CAN before.
Egypt is the most successful African nation on the continent with 7 victories, including three consecutive in the 21st century (2006, 2008, 2010). Cameroon (5) and Ghana (4) follow. Before Senegal in 2022, it was Algeria who lifted the trophy in 2019.
Freed from a weight after finally winning the CAN two years ago, Senegal is a contender for its own succession. His round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup and flawless play in the qualifiers (4 wins, 2 draws) kept him afloat. Morocco, the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, will be feared by all. Algeria too, which has not lost in ten matches. Finally, Egypt, 5 victories in 6 matches during the qualifiers, will, as often happens, act as a scarecrow.
The favorite teams mentioned above all have at least one star player. Egypt will rely on Mohamed Salah, who maintains excellent standards at Liverpool (25 matches, 16 goals, 7 assists). Morocco is counting on its goalkeeper Yacine Bounou, 13th in the 2023 Ballon d’Or ranking, and PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi. In Algeria, we find the inevitable Riyad Mahrez, but also the naturalized French people Amine Gouiri and Houssem Aouar.
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Senegal will be led by its beloved striker Sadio Mané, 2nd in the 2022 Ballon d’Or and elected best player of CAN 2021. Like Nigeria with Victor Osimhen, recently elected African player of the year. Finally, Vincent Aboubakar, captain of Cameroon, will experience his 4th African Cup.
Host country, Ivory Coast will face Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria in their second match in Abidjan, on January 18 at 6 p.m. Later in the evening, the Ghanaian outsider will challenge the Egyptian favorite (9 p.m.). Still on the 2nd day, the duel between Senegal and Cameroon promises on paper (January 19 at 6 p.m.).
For the second time in 40 years, Tanzania will play the CAN. 121st nation in the FIFA rankings, it did not pass the first round in 2019 (3 defeats), and did not experience a fate like that of Gambia. For its first tournament two years ago, the 126th nation in the world reached the quarter-finals after eliminating Guinea (1-0). Cameroon cut short the Scorpions’ epic (0-2).
