The Africa Cup of Nations 2023, which is taking place in the Ivory Coast, is the 34th edition of the biggest football competition in Africa. And the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is organizing the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers to select the 24 teams that will play in the tournament in 2023.
How Do the Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Work?
For the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, all 54 CAF countries participated in the first stage. However, this included Kenya and Zimbabwe, which were banned from international competitions. And CAF had to disqualify them from the competition as the ban was not lifted two weeks before their first matches.
The first stage of the qualifiers was to separate the 54 teams into two groups. The first group had 42 countries based on their ranking as of 23rd December 2021. The second group comprised 16 of the lowest-ranked African countries.
The second group participated in a preliminary stage. The organizers grouped these 12 teams into 2 teams, and they played a home and away fixture. The winners of this preliminary stage (6 countries) joined the initial 42 countries, bringing the total to 48 countries.
On 19th April 2022, CAF seeded these final 48 countries into groups of 4 teams each, a total of 12 groups. Each team in the group will play each other in a home and away format and have a position according to the points they get: 3 points for winning, 1 point for a draw, and none for losing. At the end of the qualifying stage, only the first and second from each group will compete in Ivory Coast in 2023.
The host country Ivory Coast has an automatic qualification. However, they will play the qualifiers to determine the position of the other teams in their group. So in the Ivory Coast group, only the best performing team will qualify for AFCON 2023.
How to Bet on Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers?
The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers offer a sneak peek into the footballing talent we will see in Ivory Coast in 2023. You can also choose to bet on it, and we offer a betting guide on how to bet on AFCON qualifiers.
To make the most of your first deposit, choose to bet with a bookmaker with a sports welcome bonus. In addition to the bonus amount, make sure the bonus requirements are easy to meet.
Accumulators help you increase the odds you play on. This means you get more competitive odds. When playing accumulators, also look out for an accumulator bonus that most bookmakers offer.
Another way to bet on the qualifiers is to bet live. That means you wait until the game starts and then place bets. This increases the chances that you will make the correct predictions, especially if you are watching the games.
How to Place a Bet on Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers?
After you find a bookmaker that has a welcome bonus, go ahead and register an account with them. Then follow the steps below to place a bet on the qualifiers.
How to bet at AFCON qualifiers?
- Head to the bookmaker’s website and log into your account.
- Click on the football section.
- Search for Africa Cup of Nations.
- Find the event you want to bet on and make your predictions.
- Enter a stake in the bet slip and click on the ‘Bet’ button.
Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Predictions
In 2019, the organisers (CAF) increased the number of teams in the final competition from 16 to 24. And this increased the number of games played in the qualifying stage. That means there will be serious competition for a place in the biggest football tournament in Africa.
So, we will be analyzing a few teams from each of the qualifying pots that have what it takes to climb the qualification hurdle and secure a place in the main competition.
Nigeria
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have won the African Cup of Nations thrice and will be hoping to get their fourth title next year. But of course, they have to overcome the qualifying stage. They are the current leaders in their group after thrashing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 and winning over Seria Leone 2-1.
Algeria
As a two-time winner of AFCON, Algeria will be hoping to make it to the main competition next year. And they have started a good qualification campaign. They have won their first two matches with two goals to nil each against Uganda and Tanzania, putting them first in Group F.
Ghana
Ghana is in the perfect group to qualify for the competition next year. Group E is made up of teams that are below 100 in the rankings. And Ghana won one game and drew the second of the two games they played. So barring an unlikely upset, the Black Stars of Ghana will participate in AFCON next year.
Cameroon
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have started the qualifiers for the 2023 African Cup of Nations. They have won the first match of their group and are in the first position. Kenya won’t play as CAF disqualified them. This means 2 out of 3 teams will qualify, and Cameroon is one of the 2.
Senegal
The winners of the 2021 AFCON, the Lions of Teranga, will be hoping to defend their title come 2023. After winning their first two matches and conceding one goal, it seems they are already on their way to Ivory Coast for their title defence next year.
Tunisia
The Eagles of Carthage will be hoping to add another AFCON trophy to their cabinet after winning it once in 2004. They are the first in their group after winning 4-0 over Equatorial Guinea and playing a goalless draw against Botswana.
Egypt
The Pharaohs of Egypt missed out narrowly to clinching their 8th AFCON trophy last year. And they’ve had a rough start with their qualifying campaign for the competition next year. They have won and lost the first two matches and are currently 4th in the group.
Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers FAQs
As we come to the end of this article, we have answered some frequently asked questions about the qualifiers.
24 national teams will qualify to play in the African Cup of Nations in 2023, hosted by Ivory Coast.
South Africa is yet to qualify for AFCON in 2023. However, they stand a great chance at qualifying.
Several teams have the squad and will to win and qualify for AFCON 2023. These are teams like Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and the hosts Ivory Coast.
There are several places to watch the AFCON qualifiers, like on Cable TV or football streaming apps. In addition, some bookmakers like Betway may stream the game on their site.