The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is underway with shocks aplenty in the opening few days alone.
Host nation Ivory Coast saw off Guinea-Bissau to get the tournament going before Nigeria were held to a draw by Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique were denied a first-ever AFCON win by Mohamed Salah’s late penalty for Egypt. Ghana then tumbled to a shock defeat against Cape Verde.
Monday saw defending champions Senegal ease past The Gambia and Cameroon held by 10-man Guinea, before Algeria were held by Angola.
Across four weeks of football, 24 nations will battle it out for the biggest prize in African football. Morocco are favourites, followed closely by Senegal, hosts Ivory Coast, Algeria and Nigeria.
The top two of each group will go through plus the top four third-placed sides, ahead of a knockout stage beginning in the last-16 later this month.
This year’s AFCON was delayed from last summer due to concerns over the monsoon season in west Africa.
Fixtures, schedule and results (all times GMT)
Group A
Saturday, January 13
Ivory Coast 2-0 Guinea-Bissau
Sunday, January 14
Nigeria 1-1 Equatorial Guinea
Thursday, January 18
Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea-Bissau (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 2pm)
Ivory Coast vs Nigeria (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
Monday, January 22
Equatorial Guinea vs Ivory Coast (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
Guinea-Bissau vs Nigeria (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
Group B
Sunday, January 14
Egypt 1-1 Mozambique
Ghana 1-2 Cape Verde
Thursday, January 18
Egypt vs Ghana (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Friday, January 19
Cape Verde vs Mozambique (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 2pm)
Monday, January 22
Cape Verde vs Egypt (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Mozambique vs Ghana (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Group C
Monday, January 15
Senegal 3-0 Gambia
Cameroon 1-1 Guinea
Friday, January 19
Senegal vs Cameroon (Yamoussoukro, 5pm)
Guinea vs Gambia (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Tuesday, January 23
Gambia vs Cameroon (Bouake, 5pm)
Guinea vs Senegal (Yamoussoukro, 5pm)
Group D
Monday, January 15
Algeria 1-1 Angola
Tuesday, January 16
Burkina Faso vs Mauritania (Bouake, 2pm)
Saturday, January 20
Algeria vs Burkina Faso (Bouake, 2pm)
Mauritania vs Angola (Bouake, 5pm)
Tuesday, January 23
Angola vs Burkina Faso (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Mauritania vs Algeria (Bouake, 8pm)
Group E
Tuesday, January 16
Tunisia vs Namibia (Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium, 5pm)
Mali vs South Africa (Korhogo, 8pm)
Saturday, January 20
Tunisia vs Mali (Korhogo, 8pm)
Sunday, January 21
South Africa vs Namibia (Korhogo, 8pm)
Wednesday, January 24
Namibia vs Mali (San Pedro, 5pm)
South Africa vs Tunisia (Korhogo, 5pm)
Group F
Wednesday, January 17
Morocco vs Tanzania (Laurent Pokou Stadium, 5pm)
DR Congo vs Zambia (San Pedro, 8pm)
Sunday, January 21
Morocco vs DR Congo (San Pedro, 2pm)
Zambia vs Tanzania (San Pedro, 5pm)
Wednesday, January 24
Tanzania vs DR Congo (Korhogo, 8pm)
Zambia vs Morocco (San Pedro, 8pm)
Knockout stage
Last-16
Saturday, January 27
1: Group D Winner vs 3rd Place Group B/E/F (Bouake, 5pm)
2: Group A Second Place vs Group C Second Place (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Sunday, January 28
3: Group A Winner vs 3rd Place Group C/D/E (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 5pm)
4: Group B Second Place vs Group F Second Place (San Pedro, 8pm)
Monday, January 29
5: Group B Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/C/D (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
6: Group C Winner vs 3rd Place Group A/B/F (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Tuesday, January 30
7: Group E Winner vs Group D Second Place (Korhogo, 5pm)
8: Group F Winner vs Group E Second Place (San Pedro, 8pm)
Quarter-finals
Friday, February 2
1: Winner 2 vs Winner 1 (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 5pm)
2: Winner 4 vs Winner 3 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Saturday, February 3
3: Winner 7 vs Winner 6 (Bouake, 5pm)
4: Winner 5 vs Winner 8 (Yamoussoukro, 8pm)
Semi-finals
Wednesday, February 7
1: Winner 1 vs Winner 4 (Bouake, 5pm)
2: Winner 3 vs Winner 2 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
Third place play-off
Saturday, February 10
Loser semi-final 1 vs Loser semi-final 2 (Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, 8pm)
Final
Sunday, February 11
Winner semi-final 1 vs Winner semi-final 2 (Alassane Ouattara Stadium, 8pm)
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