AFCON 2024 Draws: Nigeria to face Ivory Coast, Senegal to play Cameroon

The 2024 AFCON draw was held at the CAF headquarters on Thursday and interesting fixtures await us. (Photo credit: CAF)

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been drawn into Group A of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, billed to take place in Ivory Coast.

The 2013 champions will lock horns with the hosts, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. The draw took place at the CAF headquarters on Thursday, with teams learning their respective foes ahead of the tournament.

Egypt and Ghana are the big hitters in Group B, which also has Cape Verde and Mozambique as members. Group C looks tough, with defending champions Senegal and Cameroon set to fight for the top spot; Guinea and the Gambia complete the group.

Algeria headlines Group D, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Angola join the Desert Foxes, while Group E is set for a potential battle of Tunisia, Mali, and South Africa. The trio will see Namibia as the whipping boys, but they might be in for a rude shock.

The final four are pitched in Group F, where Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, and Tanzania will lock horns. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the next round, with four other teams set to join them as the best third-place finishers.

Ivory Coast will open the tournament with a game against Guinea-Bissau. Nigeria is seeking to win her fourth AFCON, having landed the trophy in 1980, 1994, after beating Zambia 2-1 in the final, and in 2013 under the late coach Stephen Keshi.

Didier Drogba is confident Ivory Coast will qualify from the group. “Ivory Coast is very happy and proud to host the AFCON, and we will do our best for it to be the best tournament; I know this group of players will try their best, and we always say that disappointment is not Ivorian”, the former captain said after the draw.