April 19, (THEWILL) – On Tuesday evening in Johannesburg, South Africa, the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire 2023 draw took place, with thrilling matches set for next year’s tournament.
Former South African defender, Lucas Radebe and former Côte d’Ivoire attacker, Solomon Kalou, conducted the draw.
In the very first group of the draw, Nigeria was set against former group member Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe/Mauritius. This looks like an easy draw for the Super Eagles on paper but football can be tough to accurately predict.
Senegal, the defending champion, were placed in Group L, alongside Benin, Mozambique, and Rwanda while Group H includes hosts Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Comoros, and Lesotho. Along with the hosts, only one team will qualify from this group.
Comoros, who were one of the surprise teams at the postponed 2021 showpiece in Cameroon early this year, are hoping to qualify for a second time to improve on their debut.
Finalists who will not compete in the 2021 showpiece Egypt, meanwhile, has been assigned to Pool D, where Mohamed Salah will face off against club teammate Naby Keita, as well as Guinea, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
There will be other derbies as well, with East African rivals Uganda and Tanzania being drawn together again in Group F alongside 2019 champions Algeria and Niger.
Uganda and Tanzania met in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers, with the first leg ending in a 0-0 draw in Kampala and Tanzania won 3-0 in Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania also played Algeria in the next tournament in Egypt, when they were defeated 3-0.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
