The quorum of the teams qualified for the quarter-finals of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast 2023, was completed on Wednesday, with the conclusion of the group stage matches.
The first round of the competition witnessed many surprises, perhaps the most notable of which was the exclusion of teams that were strong candidates to compete for the title, in the form of the Algerian national team, its Tunisian counterpart, and the Ghanaian national team.
Other teams were lucky, such as the host country, Ivory Coast, which waited for the results of the last three groups to know its fate, whether it would win one of the four places allocated to the best third-placed teams.
This was achieved after Zambia lost to Morocco with an unanswered goal at the end of the Group Six matches.
The regulations for the African Cup of Nations competition stipulate that 12 teams will qualify and were able to reserve the first and second seats in each group, while they will be accompanied after that by the four teams with the most points, who finished third in each group.
Final group standings in #Nations_of_Africa_2023 🤯!
Groups from first to fourth 🔽#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/ab74mIfveP
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) January 24, 2024
Strong clashes for the big teams
The final ranking of the teams that qualified from the group stage resulted in exciting confrontations in the quarter-finals.
The national teams of Angola and Namibia will open the matches of the first knockout rounds, on Saturday, when they meet on the field of the “Salam” Stadium in the city of Bouaké at exactly six o’clock Algeria time.
The winner of this match will face a heavy opponent represented by Nigeria or Cameroon in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria, the leader of Group A, clashed with its traditional rival, Cameroon, which struggled to reach the round of 16 after finishing second in Group C on goal difference.
On Saturday, the “Felix Houphouet-Boigny” stadium in Abidjan will host the “Green Eagles” confrontation against the “Untamed Lions”, starting at nine in the evening.
A third awaited date will bring together the defending champion, the Senegalese national team, with its Ivorian counterpart, on Monday, on the grounds of the Charles Konan Bani Stadium in the capital, Yamoussoukro.
The match will be the last chance for the hosts to reconcile their fans following the humiliating defeat inflicted on them by Equatorial Guinea in the third round of the group stage.
For its part, the “Tiranga Lions” aim to continue their strong start in the competition, during which they achieved three consecutive victories when facing Sekou Fofana’s teammates.
🏆 The path to the cup 🏆
Matches map #Nations_of_Africa_2023 After the end of the group stage 🆚
Who will lift the title in the end? 👀
#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/IWctL0o7hl
— CAF – Arabic (@caf_online_AR) January 24, 2024
#Cannes #Program #dates #quarterfinal #matches
#oussama_boulegheb #elhiwardz #alakhibariat.xyz #elhiwar #elhiwar-en
