The 2023 African Cup of Nations, known for short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, is scheduled to be the 34th edition of the biennial African association football tournament organised by Confederation of African Football. It will be hosted by Ivory Coast for the second time and the first since 1984.
Tunisia hopes to win the competition © Mena Today
The 2023 African Cup of Nations, known for short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, is scheduled to be the 34th edition of the biennial African association football tournament organised by Confederation of African Football. It will be hosted by Ivory Coast for the second time and the first since 1984.
This edition of the tournament was initially planned to be the third since 2019 to take place during the Northern Hemisphere's summer, in order to reduce scheduling conflicts with European club teams and competitions.
However it was postponed by CAF to 13 January – 11 February 2024.
Africa Cup of Nations record: Tunisia
Previous appearances in finals: (20) 1962, 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
Best performance: Winners 2004
Drawn in Group E with Mali, Namibia and South Africa.
Coach: Jalel Kadri
The 52-year-old has had a journeyman coaching career at a myriad of clubs both in Tunisia and in the Middle East and was Tunisia’s assistant coach at the last Cup of Nations finals. Despite reaching the quarter-final, his predecessor Mondher Kebaier was fired afterwards and Kadri stepped into the hot seat, immediately securing World Cup qualification for Tunisia. He took them to the finals in Qatar where they beat France but still did not make it out of the group phase, following which his offer to resign was not accepted by the Tunisian federation who insisted he stay in the post.
Key player: Ellyes Skhiri. Age: 28. Midfielder.
Skhiri set a Bundesliga record for the most distance covered by a single player in a season. His strength lies in his defensive resilience and strong work ethic. He made his Montpellier debut as a fullback and then moved into the heart of the defence, before shifting into a holding midfielder role at Cologne. He was signed by Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of this season. Skhiri was born in France but his father is Tunisian and he made his national team debut in 2018, ahead of the World Cup in Russia.
FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 28
How they qualified: Top place team in Group J, ahead of Equatorial Guinea, Botswana and Libya.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Bechir Ben Said (US Monastir), Aymen Dhamen (Al Hazem), Mouez Hassen (Club Africain)
Defenders: Ali Abdi (Caen), Alaa Ghram (CS Sfaxien), Oussam Haddadi (Greuther Furth), Hamza Jelassi (Etoile Sahel), Wajdi Kechrida (Atromitos), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly), Yassine Meriah (Esperance), Montassir Talbi (Lorient), Yan Valery (Angers)
Compiled by Mark Gleeson
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