AFCON 2023: full schedule, fixtures, teams, kick-off times
The 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations kicks-off in Ivory Coast on 13 January as 24 nations eye the biggest prize in African football.
Ivory Coast will 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 with the host nation kick starting the competition on 13 January as the Elephants face Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan with the final set for 11 February.
At the outset of the competition, current champions Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt and Morocco are the tournament favourites with the spotlight set to fall on greats such as Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen or Riyad Mahrez.
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.
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.
Africa Cup of Nations 2023 fixtures (times in ET)
Saturday 13 January
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (3pm ET)
Sunday 14 January
Group A: Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (9am)
Group B: Egypt vs Mozambique, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (12pm)
Group B: Ghana vs Cape Verde, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (3pm)
Monday 15 January
Group C: Senegal vs The Gambia, Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro (9am)
Group C: Cameroon vs Guinea, Yamoussoukro (12am)
Group D: Algeria vs Angola, Stade de la Paix, Bouake (3pm)
Tuesday 16 January
Group D: Burkina Faso vs Mauritania, Bouake (9am)
Group E: Tunisia vs Namibia, Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, Korhogo (12am)
Group E: Mali vs South Africa, Korhogo (3pm)
Wednesday 17 January
Group F: Morocco vs Tanzania, Laurent Pokou Stadium, San Pedro (12pm)
Group F: DR Congo vs Zambia, San Pedro (3pm)
Thursday 18 January
Group A: Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (9am)
Group A: Ivory Coast vs Nigeria, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (12pm)
Group B: Egypt vs Ghana, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (3pm)
Friday 19 January
Group B: Cape Verde vs Mozambique, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (9am)
Group C: Senegal vs Cameroon, Yamoussoukro (12pm)
Group C: Guinea vs The Gambia, Yamoussoukro (3pm)
Saturday 20 January
Group D: Algeria vs Burkina Faso, Bouake (9am)
Group D: Mauritania vs Angola, Bouake (12pm)
Group E: Tunisia vs Mali, Korhogo (3pm)
Sunday 21 January
Group E: South Africa vs Namibia, Korhogo (3pm)
Group F: Morocco vs DR Congo, San Pedro (9am)
Group F: Zambia vs Tanzania, San Pedro (12pm)
Monday 22 January
Group A: Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (9am)
Group A: Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (9am)
Group B: Cape Verde vs Egypt, Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan (3pm)
Group B: Mozambique vs Ghana, Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan (3pm)
Tuesday 23 January
Group C: The Gambia vs Cameroon, Bouake (12pm)
Group C: Guinea vs Senegal, Yamoussoukro (12pm)
Group D: Angola vs Burkina Faso, Yamoussoukro (3pm)
Group D: Mauritania vs Algeria, Bouake (3pm)
Wednesday 24 January
Group E: Namibia vs Mali, San Pedro (12pm)
Group E: South Africa vs Tunisia, Korhogo (12pm)
Group F: Tanzania vs DR Congo, Korhogo (3pm)
Group F: Zambia vs Morocco, San Pedro (3pm)
Aregawi and Ababel secured astonishing Ethiopian double in Madrid
World cross country silver medallist Berihu Aregawi and fellow Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh were victorious at the San Silvestre Vallecana, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on Sunday (31) evening.
World 5km record-holder Aregawi was a clear winner of the men’s race, while 32-year-old Yeshaneh managed a narrow win ahead of compatriots Likina Amebaw and Asmarech Anley.
The men’s race had been billed as a rematch between Aregawi and Spain’s Mohamed Katir as the latter grabbed 5000m silver at the Budapest worlds while the 22-year-old Ethiopian had to settle for eighth on that occasion.
Right from the start, world 5000m silver medallist Mohamed Katir – the winner here in 2021 – took command of the pacing duties, closely followed by compatriots Aaron Las Heras and Mario García Romo, the fourth-place finisher over 1500m at the 2022 World Championships.
After a conservative start, Aregawi caught the Spanish trio about 700 metres into the race with the opening kilometre being reached in a brisk 2:42 with Katir, Aregawi and Las Heras at the helm while Romo began to lose ground.
Aregawi stayed on Katir’s shoulder with Las Heras tucked behind at 3km, which was reached in 8:05, eight seconds clear of a large chasing group headed by Britain’s Scott Beattie and Sweden’s Oliver Lofqvist.
Soon after 4km, Aregawi took the lead for the first time and only Katir could keep with his cadence while Las Heras was reeled in by Beattie. By halfway, after almost five downhill kilometres, there were two fascinating showdowns, Aregawi and Katir for the victory (13:24) and Las Heras and the Briton for the third place on the podium (13:32).
The lead group covered the next three kilometres in the 2:40-2:42 range, but the key move came just after they passed the 8km mark (21:27) when Aregawi easily broke away from Katir to open a comfortable gap on the Spaniard over the toughest section of the race. The Ethiopian continued to extend his lead over the closing section to win convincingly in 27:15.
Held at the same time as the men’s race, the women’s event got off to a steady start as Yeshaneh, fellow Ethiopians Asmarech Anley and Likina Amebaw, as well as 2022 world marathon bronze medallist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, reached 3km in 9:12.
Their pace then increased slightly as they reached halfway in 15:03, with Salpeter leading the pack just ahead of the Ethiopian trio. The next few kilometres were each covered in 2:53-2:55, but Salpeter was still unable to shake off the challenge of her pursuers.
Shortly after passing 8km, Salpeter started to fade and it soon became clear that it would be an all Ethiopian podium. After a fierce battle over the closing two kilometres, Yeshaneh prevailed in 30:30, just ahead of Amebaw (30:31) and Anlay (30:32) while Salpeter was a distant fourth in 31:09.
“This was my first race in Spain and I’m impressed by the large crowd assembled in the streets,” said Yeshaneh, who has achieved podium finishes at the Boston, New York and Chicago marathons. “It’s nice to say farewell to the year here. My next race will be the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February.”
Shimeles Bekele retired from Ethiopian national team
Ethiopian national team captain and premier league former champion Shimeles Bekele Goda who played in four different countries and three Ethiopian premier league sides over the course of more than fifteen years retired from international matches.
Though Shimeles, currently much involved in orchestrating the Army side-Mechal midfield, he called time on his Waliyas career which has spanned 15 years and earned him 81 caps.
Best known for his dribbling skills,ong through passes and pin point crosses, the
midfield wizard Shi.eles was regarded as one of the best players in Ethiopia in his prime. Shimeles first came into prominence with his home town club Hawassa Ketema. Two years with Hawassa he moved to Ethiopia’s biggest and most successful club Kidus Giorgis where he won the premier league title.
Among the very first to move to international soccer Shimeles’ international soccer adventure started with Ihad Tripoli of Libya followed by Sudanese AlMerrikh and finally to Egypt where he stayed for ten years playing to Petro-Jet, El-Goura, Miser Lel Mekkasa and ENPPI FC. Ten years on the move and international adventure, the diminutive playmaker returned home to join premier league title aspiring Mechal as one of the highest paid players in the country.
with 13 years and 81 caps under his belt Shimeles featured in two Nations Cup final including the historic 2010 South African Nations cup final where Ethiopia returned to the stage after 31 years absence.
“Football has given me some of the best moments of my life and South African Cup final qualification stands towering above all” remarked the 34 year old who managed to built one of the biggest buildings in Hawassa town.
“I would like to thank all the coaches I have worked under, all the players I played alongside and all Ethiopian football fans for their monumental support” remarked Shimeles.
An official source disclosed Omega Garment is to organize a huge Bon Voyage exhibition match in honor of Shimeles. Southern region selection the likes of Degu Debebe, Mulugeta Meheret, Adane Girma and Abebaw Butako against the rest of Ethiopia that comprised Salhadin Said, Oumed Oukri and Dawit Estifanos.
