"The final draw will be conducted on Thursday 12 October 2023 at 19:00 local time (19:00 GMT, 22:00 Cairo/East Africa time, 21:00 CAT)," CAF stated in a statement.
This draw is a significant milestone leading to the kickoff of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d'Ivoire 2023, as it will determine the fate of the 24 participating member associations in the group stages of the competition.
The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final is scheduled to begin on 13 January 2024, with the final match set for 11 February 2024.
The tournament is returning to its traditional mid-year slot, similar to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt.
Cote d'Ivoire, which previously hosted the tournament in 1984, has constructed and renovated six stadiums for this prestigious competition.
Three stadiums are nearly completed: the 60,000-capacity national stadium in Ebimpe, located just outside Abidjan, a refurbished 40,000-seat venue in the central city of Bouake, and a 20,000-capacity ground in Yamoussoukro.
Two other 20,000-capacity venues, situated in the coastal port city of San Pedro and the northern city of Korhogo, are currently between 60 and 70 percent finished, according to the government office overseeing the projects.
The teams qualified for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations are as follows:
Cote d'Ivoire (hosts), Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia.
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