Following last week’s 2023 TotalEnergies Energies Africa Cup of Nations draw in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Kawowo Sports picks reactions from various stakeholders about the expectations.
The Afcon 2023 will take place between January 13 and February 11, 2024.
Walid Regragui – Morocco Head Coach speaking to the Moroccan Football Association’s official website
“The next AFCON will be the toughest. I don’t think it’s an easy group, but rather balanced.”
Morocco is in Group F alongside DR Congo, Zambia and minnows Tanzania.
Rui Vitoria – Egypt Head Coach whose side faces Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique.
“I’m not surprised by the AFCON draw. I always think about balance and I believe our group has tough opponents. We have Ghana, a really good team that has always been a favourite to win the competition, and there are also Cape Verde and Mozambique who also have really talented players.
“All group games will be tough but we are prepared because we need to win such games to reach the final and win the title.”
Tom Saintfiet – Gambia Head Coach speaking to BBC Sport Africa.
“We are the clear underdog. I used that a lot in the last Afcon that we are small and they are big. It suited us but this group is much more difficult this time – we have the group of death.
“We face the current African champions, the semi-finalists of the last Afcon in Cameroon, and Guinea, who reached the knockout round last time.”
Achraf Hakim – Morocco and PSG fullback who was part of the Atlas Lions team that reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
“We have a good team; a good group and we will do our best to win. We will try to do our best during this AFCON, similar to what we did in the World Cup.”
Didier Drogba – Afcon 2015 winner with Ivory Coast and his country faces Nigeria, Guinea Bissau and Equatorial Guinea.
“It is a very difficult group. Nigeria is of course one of the favourites and to have them in our group, it is going to be an exciting challenge.
“But we are up for it. This is the beauty of a competition like AFCON, so we are ready to take on the challenge and let the best teams of this group and all the groups qualify.”
Chris Haughton– Ghana Head Coach
“Egypt are a very experienced side, very experienced AFCON campaigners and I think they have more wins than any other country.
“Cape Verde and Mozambique are two teams I don’t know so much about. However, we will do our homework over the coming months and watch their games before the tournament starts.”
Geremi Njitap – Afcon winner with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
“I wouldn’t really call it the group of death because when you look at all the groups, they are all tough but of course people will be looking at Senegal and Cameroon. As a former player with lots of experience, when you go to this kind of competition, the key is the first match.
“For us Cameroon, our first match is against Gambia so the manager should be working on that, then we move on to the next match. This is something I am saying on experience. So Rigobert Song should start working on the game against Gambia.”
The top two in each of the six groups will advance to the knockout rounds along with the best four third-placed teams.
