Africa Cup of Nations brings promise of world-wide excitment

Opinion

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This article was published 29/12/2023 (618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the next few days, some of world football’s most high-profile players will be leaving their clubs mid-season to contest what might be the most significant Africa Cup of Nations ever held.

The tournament, which has a proud history predating the European Championship by three years, is set to be broadcast to a wider international audience than ever before, and host nation Ivory Coast is dedicating significant investment to ensure its success and cement its legacy.

Four stadiums have been built, transportation infrastructure has been updated and social projects such as hospitals have been prioritized. All told, the West African country will have spent more than $1.3 billion by the time the gold-plated trophy is lifted in Abidjan.

What non-Ivorians will notice, however, are the 24 star-studded teams that will make this AFCON one of the most – if not the most – compelling of its 34 instalments to date.

The 2004 competition, featuring Jay-Jay Okocha, Frederic Kanoute and Francileudo Santos was certainly absorbing, and in 2012 players such as Didier Drogba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Seydou Keita, Sulley Muntari and Christopher Katongo delivered a memorable three weeks, complete with a gripping final.

That Zambia triumph over heavily-favoured Ivory Coast is likely the Cup of Nations’ high point to date, but if any tournament can top it, the 2024 version is surely that tournament.

For starters, just take a look at the rosters.

Record champions Egypt, in a rebuilding cycle and not expected to do very much in Ivory Coast, can still call on Mohamed Elneny, (Mahmoud) Trezeguet and, of course, Mohamed Salah. Group B opponents Ghana will have up-and-comers Tariq Lamptey of Brighton and Mohammed Kudus of West Ham in the lineup, as well as Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams.

Holders Senegal, with Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mane will be a tough out, but perhaps Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Karl Toko Ekambi can give them a run for Group C bragging rights.

North Africa has generated just one of the last six AFCON winners, though after reaching the semifinals of the last World Cup the likes of Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat and Hakim Ziyech will be looking to put Morocco atop the podium for the first time since 1976.

Then there’s Nigeria, loaded with the sort of attacking talent that could score its way to a title and yet so frustratingly inconsistent that a group-stage exit seems almost just as likely.

They didn’t even qualify for the 2022 World Cup; they also have Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen, Bayer Leverkusen late-bloomer Victor Boniface and Atalanta sharpshooter Ademola Lookman along the front line. The only certainty with Nigeria is that there won’t be a dull moment.

Come to think of it, that’s a certainty for this Cup of Nations as a whole.

Ivory Coast is anticipating more than 2 million visitors over the next month, meaning matches will be mostly sold out and the competition’s famed festive atmosphere on full display.

There is palpable excitement for this event, which gets underway in earnest Jan. 13 when the hosts face Guinea-Bissau at Ebimpe’s flashy new Alassane Ouattara Stadium (beIN Sports has the Canadian broadcast rights).

From the buildup to the actual buildings, the social infrastructure to the anticipated tourism, and the number of teams to the remarkable alignment of superstars, the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations promises an energy that will be experienced and enjoyed, far beyond the continent itself.

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