By: Solomon Wise, 2023 December
You are wondering why the AFCON will be played in 2024? The competition was postponed due to weather conditions in which it was supposed to take place in June 2023. But this is not the first time a major competition has been post-ponded, back in 2020 the UEFA Euro was post-ponded due to the COVID-19 pandemic but kept its full original name of UEFA Euro 2020 the following year when it took place. The tournament takes place every two years in which Senegal is the defending champions after they defeated Egypt on penalties back in 2021.
Ivory Coast will be hosting the tournament for the second time which will commence on 13 January 2024 and the Finals played on February 11 2024. The host Ivory Coast will have the first opening match of the tournament when they will be facing Guinea Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, the matches will be held at six stadiums across five cities. The tournament will have a total of 24 National teams with a total of 52 games played before a winner is crowned. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has increased the prize money for the winner of this year’s AFCON to seven million US dollars, up from five million US dollars a 40 per cent increase. Here is a schedule of the AFCON 2024:
- Group stages- January 13-24 2024
- Round of 16- January 27-30 2024
- Quarterfinal- February 2-3 2024
- Semifinals- February 7 2024
- Third-place playoff- February 10 2024
- Finals- February 11 2024
Several English Premier League players will be in action at the tournament including Andre Onana (Manchester United/Cameroon), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt), Mohammed Kudus (West Ham/Ghana) and not also forgetting players like Achraf Hakimi (PSG/Morocco), Victor Osimhen (Napoli/Nigeria) and Sadio Mane (Al Nassar/Senegal). Qatar 2022 Semifinalists Morocco are the favourites in this year’s tournament as they will be aiming to end a nearly 40-year wait for their second AFCON trophy.
Egypt has won the trophy seven times making them the most successful nation to have won the trophy many times followed by Cameroon who have won it five times and the third Nation is Ghana lifting the trophy four times. The host Ivory Coast won the trophy two times while the defending champions Senegal won the trophy for the first in 2021.
Who do you think will lift the trophy on 11th February 2024?
