2023 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2023 or CAN 2023) is scheduled to be the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament is scheduled to be hosted by Ivory Coast, the second time the country would host the competition.[1] The Confederation of African Football changed the dates of the tournament to June and July rather than the usual January, which will come into play as of the 2019 Tournament.[2][3] It will allow the tournament to not conflict with other major tournaments as well as allowing big name players to play for their nations in the tournament without missing games for their European club side.[4][5]

2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2023
Tournament details
Host countryIvory Coast
DatesJune – July 2023
Teams24 (expected) (from 1 confederation)

Host selection

Bids:

Rejected Bids:

After the final vote at the CAF Executive Committee meeting, on 20 September 2014, the CAF announced the hosts for the 2019, 2021 and 2023 AFCON tournaments: 2019 to Cameroon, 2021 to Côte d'Ivoire, and 2023 to Guinea.[6]

The announcement of the 2023 hosts was unscheduled. Guinea was one of the bidders for the 2019 and 2021 tournaments, whose host countries were scheduled to be announced on that day. A CAF spokesperson told the BBC that, on the basis of Guinea's presentation "and commitment", the committee "decided to exercise its power to make an immediate decision."[6]

Host change

On 30 November 2018, CAF stripped Cameroon from hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[7] However, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad told Cameroon accepted to host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Consequently, Côte d'Ivoire, original hosts of 2021, would host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and Guinea, original hosts of 2023, would host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[8]

On 30 January 2019, CAF President confirmed the timetable shift, after a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.[9]

Qualification
Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Team Method of
qualification		 Date of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Last
appearance		 Previous best
performance		 FIFA ranking
at start of event
 Ivory CoastHosts8 January 201923rd (may qualify in 2021)2019Winners (1992, 2015)

Venues

With the Africa Cup of Nations expanded to 24 teams, six venues are expected to be used. The CAF has established the following requirements for stadiums:[10]

Number of StadiumsCapacity
(Minimum)
2 Stadiums40,000
2 Stadiums20,000
2 Stadiums15,000
Abidjan Bouaké
Stade National de la Côte d’Ivoire Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stade Bouaké
Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 40,000
Locations of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations venues
Korhogo San Pédro Yamoussoukro
Stade de Korhogo Stade de San Pédro Stade de Yamoussoukro
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000

References
  1. "Caf president Ahmad confirms Guinea will host 2025 Nations Cup". BBC Sport. 7 January 2019.
  2. "Africa Cup of Nations to switch from January staging to June in 2019". The Guardian. 21 July 2017.
  3. "Africa Cup of Nations: Date switch makes African players more attractive, say agents". BBC. 21 July 2017.
  4. "African Cup of Nations finally moved away from mid-season and expanded from 16 to 24 teams". The Independent. 21 July 2017.
  5. "FIFA Council makes key decisions for the future of football development". FIFA. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. "Nations Cup: 2019, 2021 and shock 2023 hosts unveiled by Caf". BBC Sport. 20 September 2014.
  7. "Cameroon stripped of hosting 2019 Africa Cup of Nations". BBC. 30 November 2018.
  8. "CAN 2019 : le pays hôte sera connu le 9 janvier". Le Monde (in French). 10 December 2018.
  9. "COTE D'IVOIRE AGREES CAF TIMETABLE SHIFT". CAF. 30 January 2019.
  10. "CAN 2019 : ce que prévoit le nouveau cahier de charges" (in French). Camfoot. 13 August 2017.


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