Africa Cup of Nations: Everything to know as Mohamed Salah chases a title with Egypt in the Ivory Coast

Africa Cup of Nations is about to get underway in Ivory Coast with African soccer about to gather its strongest national sides after qualification to see who will succeed. Senegal are defending champions after their 2021 success and AFCON rarely fails to deliver quality action and stories so this year promises to be no different. For almost a full month, African talent will be showcased for the wider soccer world to see and talents are inevitably uncovered as teams unexpectedly do well in a tournament which has had its fair share of surprise package winners in the past.

We break AFCON down for you.

What is it?

Governed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), AFCON is essentially the African equivalent of the UEFA European Championship or the CONCACAF Gold Cup. It is closer to the Euros in that it is generally considered more prestigious than the Gold Cup which is reflected by the number of each national team’s star players on its roster. AFCON has grown from an initial three-team competition back in 1957 to today’s 24-team, 52-game format split into six groups of four nations before a knockout round of 16 with winners, runners-up, third and fourth place. The tournament is held every two years since 1968 and switched to odd-numbered years in 2013 only to switch back to even-numbered years in 2022.

Why is it happening now?

The timing of AFCON is regularly a bone of contention between players, clubs and federations and this year is no different for the Ivory Coast edition which is the second time that the country has hosted the tournament after its first in 1984. Originally, the idea was that this edition would take place during the Northern Hemisphere summer which would have been the third since 2019 to do so in order to reduce scheduling clashes with European club competitions. However, CAF postponed in to early 2024 back in 2022 due to Ivory Coast weather concerns – the original edition has maintained its name for sponsorship reasons much like UEFA Euro 2020 which was impacted by COVID-19 and actually played in 2021. The same thing happened with Cameroon back in 2021 owing to similar weather concerns.

How do I watch it?

• Dates: Jan. 14- Feb. 11 (group stage: Jan. 14-Jan. 24)
• Location: Ivory Coast
• TV: beIN Sports USA | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)

Which players will be there?

A number of top players will be participating including Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s Egypt and Sadio Mane of Al-Nassr’s defending champions Senegal. Morocco are fresh from their impressive FIFA 2022 World Cup heroics and boast the likes of Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi while Algeria can call upon captain and talisman Riyad Mahrez who is now playing for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia. Premier League clubs have been particularly affected with Cameroon calling up Manchester United’s Andre Onana, Brighton and Hove Albion’s Simon Adingra linking up with hosts Ivory Coast and Sengal picking Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson as well as Everton’s Idrissa Gueye.

Structure and schedule

The tournament begins on Jan. 14 as hosts Ivory Coast take on Guinea-Bissau. The full event consists of six groups of four with the top two of each group advancing as well as four third place teams making the round of 16. From there it’s a single elimination tournament to determine the eventual winner. 

Who has won it?

Although Senegal are the current titleholders, Egypt is the most titled AFCON nation with seven wins. That Senegalese success came at the expense of Salah’s Pharaohs and the Egyptians are the only African nation to have won three titles back-to-back from 2006-2010. Cameroon trail Egypt with five trophies while Ghana have four and Nigeria boast three. Hosts Ivory Coast are one of three teams with two titles alongside Algeria and DR Congo. Senegal’s current title was their first-ever while five beaten finalists have never won it and DR Congo (two) as well as Congo (one) have both won the finals that they have competed in but have never been runners-up.

List of winners