It’s finally time for the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to take flight, as host nation Cote d’Ivoire go up against Guinea-Bissau in Saturday night’s tournament opener.
Delayed from the middle of last year over previously unconsidered weather issues, the continent’s best 24 football nations now descend on West Africa.
The aim is to topple reigning champions Senegal, who claimed the crown for the very first time in Egypt, as Sadio Mane got the better of then-Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah.
Afcon predictions and fixtures for 13 January
*All kick off times are in Central Africa Time.
Côte d’Ivoire v Guinea-Bissau
| Result prediction | Côte d’Ivoire to win |
| Over/Under prediction | over 2.5 goals |
| HT / FT prediction | Côte d’Ivoire / Côte d’Ivoire to win |
| Team to Score prediction | both teams |
| Anytime Goalscorer prediction | n/a |
Group A: Cote d’Ivoire vs Guinea-Bissau – 22.00
Host nation Cote d’Ivoire bring the curtain up on the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations when they take on Guinea-Bissau on Saturday night in Abidjan.
The Elephants are chasing a third continental title as they kick off their campaign in the sprawling coastal city.
And they’re in fine form coming into their opener at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, having won all three of their friendly internationals in the build up to their home event.
Sierra Leone, the Seychelles and Gambia were all comfortably seen off by Jean-Louis Gasset’s men, who must now do the business in front of an expectant home crowd.
Their opponents endured a chastening final outing before the tournament proper, taking a 6-2 beating from Mali to leave them with few doubts about the task ahead.
It’s surprisingly only the second formal meeting between the pair, with Cote d’Ivoire coming out victors back in 2001 in a West Africa Nations Cup contest.
Things will come full circle as Afcon returns to Abidjan for the final on 11 February.
But first of all, these two must fight to emerge from a Group A that also contains Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, who have the startling record of reaching the quarter-final stage in all three of their tournament appearances.
Those other two sides kick off their respective campaigns on Saturday.
It’s then the turn of Group B, as Egypt play Mozambique before Ghana go up against Cape Verde as the Afcon action hits full swing.