National Teams
Cote d’Ivoire Football President picks Africa Cup of Nations 2023 favourites
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
As the continent awaits the kick-off of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), football enthusiasts and stakeholders have been picking their favourites for the title when the tournament ends on February 11, 2024.
The President of Fédération Ivoirienne de Football (Cote d’Ivoire Football Federation), Yacine Idriss Diallo has snubbed the Nigeria senior men’s national team while picking his favourite to lift the AFCON 2023 trophy.
Cote d’Ivoire will face Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea in Group A at the Al-Assane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan and Diallo has picked his top three teams for the title.
“I trust our team (Côte d’Ivoire) but we know that we are not favourites,” Diallo told FourFourTwo.
“The favourites are Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, all those teams. We’re building a new team.
“If you see our team now, I think 30% are very young, it’s their first competition. But we will try to bring a very good squad to be ready.
“So we will try to do our best to go as far as possible and try to win the trophy. This is why we are here,” Diallo said.
Morocco has won the AFCON title once and became Africa’s first semi finalist at 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Senegal ended their wait to win the AFCON title the last time out and will hope to defend it in Cote d’Ivoire.
Egypt with seven African title are the most successful team in the competition and are beaten finalist on penalties during the last AFCON final in Cameron.
