The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023) is set to take place in January and February 2024 in Ivory Coast and excitement is building ahead of the tournament.
Whether you have AFCON tickets or are planning to watch the action on television, knowing the AFCON 2023 schedule is necessary so you can plan your matchdays accordingly. Below, find the full schedule from the group stages through to the final.
AFCON 2023 format
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will be contested by 24 nations who have all qualified via the qualifiers, with the exception of Ivory Coast, who qualified automatically as tournament hosts. The 24 teams were split into six groups of four, with each team playing fellow group members once.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament, while four extra spots are reserved for the best-ranked third-placed nations to make the first knockout stage a Round of 16. From there, the tournament will follow the typical format of Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
The tournament bracket has already been finalised which means fans can start to map out their nation's path to the final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium on 11 February.
AFCON 2023 groups
Group A – Ivory Coast – Nigeria – Equatorial Guinea – Guinea-Bissau
Group B – Egypt – Ghana – Cape Verde – Mozambique
Group C – Senegal – Cameroon – Guinea – The Gambia
Group D – Algeria – Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola
Group E – Tunisia – Mali – South Africa – Namibia
Group F – Morocco – DR Congo – Zambia – Tanzania
Complete AFCON 2023 schedule
Group Stages
The group stages of AFCON 2023 will commence on Saturday, 13 January, with hosts Ivory Coast taking on Guinea-Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium. Following on from the opening match, there will be at least two matches played each day for the entirety of the group stages.
Saturday 13 January – GROUP A: Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau (8pm)
Sunday 14 January – GROUP A: Nigeira vs Equaorial Guinea (2pm)
Sunday 14 January – GROUP B: Eygpt vs Mozambique (5pm)
Sunday 14 January – GROUP B: Ghana vs Cape Verde (8pm)
Monday 15 January – GROUP C: Senegal vs The Gambia (2pm)
Monday 15 January – GROUP C: Cameroon vs Guinea (5pm)
Monday 15 January – GROUP D: Algeria vs Angola (8pm)
Tuesday 16 January – GROUP D: Burkina Faso vs Mauritania (2pm)
Tuesday 16 January – GROUP E: Tunisia vs Namibia (5pm)
Tuesday 16 January – GROUP E: Mali vs South Africa (8pm)
Wednesday 17 January – GROUP F: Morocco vs Tanzania (5pm)
Wednesday 17 January – GROUP F: DR congo vs Zambia (8pm)
Thursday 18 January – GROUP A: Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau (2pm)
Thursday 18 January – GROUP A: Ivory Coast vs Nigeria (5pm)
Thursday 18 January – GROUP B: Egypt vs Ghana (8pm)
Friday 19 January – GROUP B: Cape Verde vs Mozambique (2pm)
Friday 19 January – GROUP C: Senegal vs Cameroon (5pm)
Friday 19 January – GROUP C: Guinea vs The Gambia (8pm)
Saturday 20 January – GROUP D: Algeria vs Burkina Faso (2pm)
Saturday 20 January – GROUP D: Mauritania vs Angola (5pm)
Saturday 20 January – GROUP E: Tunisia vs Mali (8pm)
Sunday 21 January – GROUP F: Morocco vs DR Congo (2pm)
Sunday 21 January – GROUP F: Zambia vs Tanzania (5pm)
Sunday 21 January – GROUP E: South Africa vs Namibia (8pm)
Monday 22 January – GROUP A: Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast (5pm)
Monday 22 January – GROUP A: Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria (5pm)
Monday 22 January – GROUP B: Cape Verde vs Egypt (8pm)
Monday 22 January – GROUP B: Mozambique vs Ghana (8pm)
Tuesday 23 January – GROUP C: The Gambia vs Cameroon (5pm)
Tuesday 23 January – GROUP C: Guinea vs Senegal (5pm)
Tuesday 23 January – GROUP D: Angola vs Burkina Faso (8pm)
Tuesday 23 January – GROUP D: Mauritania vs Algeria (8pm)
Wednesday 24 January – GROUP E: Namibia vs Mali (5pm)
Wednesday 24 January – GROUP E: South Africa vs Tunisia (5pm)
Wednesday 24 January – GROUP F: Tanzania vs DR Congo (8pm)
Wednesday 24 January – GROUP F: Zambia vs Morocco (8pm)
Schedule for Africa Cup of Nations: Knockout stages
There will be a three-day break after the group stages to allow all 16 qualified teams to regain some fitness and energy ahead of the round of 16. The knockout stage schedule is as follows:
Saturday 27 January – KO1 – Winner of Group D vs 3rd place Group B/E/F (5pm)
Saturday 27 January – KO2 – Second in Group A vs second in Group C
Sunday 28 January – KO3 – Winner of Group A vs 3rd place Group C/D/E (5pm)
Sunday 28 January – KO4 – Second in Group B vs second in Group F (8pm)
Monday 29 January – KO5 – Winner of Group B vs 3rd place Group A/C/D (5pm)
Monday 29 January – KO6 – Winner of Group C vs 3rd place Group A/B/F (8pm)
Tuesday 30 January – KO7 – Winner of Group E vs second in Group D (5pm)
Tuesday 30 January – KO8 – Winner of Group F vs second in Group E (8pm)
Friday 2 February – QF1 – Winner of KO2 vs winner of KO1 (5pm)
Friday 2 February – QF2 – Winner of KO4 vs winner of KO3 (8pm)
Saturday 3 February – QF3 – Winner of KO7 vs winner of KO6 (5pm)
Saturday 3 February – QF4 – Winner of KO5 vs winner of KO8 (8pm)
Wednesday 7 February – SF1 – Winner of QF1 vs winner of QF4
Wednesday 7 February – SF2 – Winner of QF3 vs Winner of QF2
Saturday 10 February – Third place playoff – Loser of SF1 vs loser of SF2 (8pm)
Sunday 11 February – Final – Winner of SF1 vs winner of SF2 (8pm)
Where are the matches being played?
Six stadiums in five cities in Ivory Coast will be used over the four-week tournament. The largest stadium is the Alassan Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan with a capacity of 60,000 while there are three different stadiums being used with a capacity of just 20,000.
Full list of AFCON 2023 stadiums:
- Alassane Ouattara Stadium
- Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium
- Charles Konan Banny Stadium
- Stade de la Paix, Bouake
- Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, Korhogo
- Laurent Pokou Stadium, San Pedro