The draw ceremony for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals will take place at the Mohamed V National Theatre in Rabat, Morocco on Monday evening.
Three-time African champions Nigeria have been placed in Pot 1, alongside seven-time winners Egypt, three-time champions and Cup holders Cote d’Ivoire, two-time winners Algeria, hosts and 1976 champions Morocco and 2021 winners Senegal.
Super Eagles’ Head Coach Éric Sékou Chelle and Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, alongside the Chairman of NFF Technical and Development Committee, Alhaji Sharif Rabiu Inuwa will attend the colourful ceremony in the heart of Morocco’s administrative capital.
The final tournament that begins on 21st December and ends on 18th January is unique in some ways, including being the first ever to start in a particular year and run into another year. Morocco will play host to Africa again since hosting the 1988 tournament that was won by Cameroon.
The North African country was handed the hosting right for the 2015 finals, but ducked at the eleventh hour in the midst of the ebola scare across some nations in the continent
Since then, the country has hosted a plethora of football championships, including the African Nations Championship in 2018 (which she won), the Women Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 (in which she finished as runner-up) and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2023. Morocco will also co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup finals alongside neighbours Spain and Portugal.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles hold the record for the most medals from the 68-year-old championship: 16 in 20 previous participations.
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They are three-time winners (1980, 1994, 2013), finished as runners-up on five occasions (1984, 1988, 1990, 2000 and 2023), and took the bronze eight times (1976, 1978, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2019).
The Eagles lost out in the quarter-finals in 2008 and were eliminated in the second round in 2021. Only in their debut in 1963, and as Cup holders in 1982, have the Eagles failed to proceed beyond the tournament group phase.
Nigeria have also played a total of 104 matches at the final tournament, 4th overall behind Egypt (111), Cote d’Ivoire (106) and Ghana (105).
The Full Pots
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire
Pot 2: Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, Burkina Faso
Pot 3: Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Benin Republic
Pot 4: Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Botswana
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