Sports
AFCON 2023 Fixtures, Schedules, Groups, Every Game’s Start Time
The men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 hosted by Côte d’Ivoire in west Africa is set to begin tomorrow…
The men’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 hosted by Côte d’Ivoire in west Africa is set to begin on 13 January 2024 and will culminate in its final match on 11 February 2024.
Record prize money
VerseSports learnt that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced a 40% increase in the prize money for winning Afcon.
The winning national team will take home US$7 million while the runner-up takes US$4 million, third place takes US$2.5 million and the fourth placed team takes US$1.3 million. Though still a long way behind Europe, these prizes are larger than what the Copa América (the South American Football Championship) offered in 2021.
Star attractions
The Africa’s star players include big names like; Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) will all be representing their countries at the tournament.
They won the top three most votes for the 2023 African Player of the Year award.
In addition, other Caf Awards finalists – Fiston Mayele (Congo), Peter Shalulile (Namibia) and Percy Tau (South Africa) – will all be participating. Added to this line-up is the sensational Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Fixtures, schedule and results
Group A
Saturday, January 13
Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau, (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Sunday, January 14
Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 2pm)
Thursday, January 18
Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 2pm)
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
Monday, January 22
Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
Group B
Sunday, January 14
Egypt vs Mozambique (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
Ghana vs Cape Verde (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Thursday, January 18
Egypt vs Ghana (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Friday, January 19
Cape Verde vs Mozambique (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 2pm)
Monday, January 22
Cape Verde vs Egypt (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Mozambique vs Ghana (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Group C
Monday, January 15
Senegal vs Gambia (Charles Konan Banny Stadium, 2pm)
Cameroon vs Guinea (Yamoussoukro, 5pm)
Friday, January 19
Senegal vs Cameroon (Yamoussoukro, 5pm)
Guinea vs Gambia (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Tuesday, January 23
Gambia vs Cameroon (Bouake, 5pm)
Guinea vs Senegal (Yamoussoukro, 5pm)
Group D
Monday, January 15
Algeria vs Angola (Stade de la Paix, 8pm)
Tuesday, January 16
Burkina Faso vs Mauritania (Bouake, 2pm)
Saturday, January 20
Algeria vs Burkina Faso (Bouake, 2pm)
Mauritania vs Angola (Bouake, 5pm)
Tuesday, January 23
Angola vs Burkina Faso (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Mauritania vs Algeria (Bouake, 8pm)
Group E
Tuesday, January 16
Tunisia vs Namibia (Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, 5pm)
Mali vs South Africa (Korhogo, 8pm)
Saturday, January 20
Tunisia vs Mali (Korhogo, 8pm)
Sunday, January 21
South Africa vs Namibia (Korhogo, 8pm)
Wednesday, January 24
Namibia vs Mali (San Pedro, 5pm)
South Africa vs Tunisia (Korhogo, 5pm)
Group F
Wednesday, January 17
Morocco vs Tanzania (Laurent Pokou Stadium, 5pm)
DR Congo vs Zambia (San Pedro, 8pm)
Sunday, January 21
Morocco vs DR Congo (San Pedro, 2pm)
Zambia vs Tanzania (San Pedro, 5pm)
Wednesday, January 24
Tanzania vs DR Congo (Korhogo, 8pm)
Zambia vs Morocco (San Pedro, 8pm)
Knockout stage
Last-16
Saturday, January 27
1: Group D Winner vs 3rd Place Group B/E/F (Bouake, 5pm)
2: Group A Second Place vs Group C Second Place (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Sunday, January 28
3: Group A Winner vs 3rd Place Group C/D/E (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
4: Group B Second Place vs Group F Second Place (San Pedro, 8pm)
Monday, January 29
5: Group B Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/C/D (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
6: Group C Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/B/F (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Tuesday, January 30
7: Group E Winner vs Group D Second Place (Korhogo, 5pm)
8: Group F Winner vs Group E Second Place (San Pedro, 8pm)
Quarter-finals
Friday, February 2
1: Winner 2 vs Winner 1 (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
2: Winner 4 vs Winner 3 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Saturday, February 3
3: Winner 7 vs Winner 6 (Bouake, 5pm)
4: Winner 5 vs Winner 8 (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Semi-finals
Wednesday, February 7
1: Winner 1 vs Winner 4 (Bouake, 5pm)
2: Winner 3 vs Winner 2 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Third place play-off
Saturday, February 10
Loser semi-final 1 vs Loser semi-final 2 (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Final
Sunday, February 11
Winner semi-final 1 vs Winner semi-final 2 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)