The African Cup of Nations 2024 draw takes place tomorrow in Abidjan, and the Super Eagles of Nigeria might have a challenging journey ahead. They could face the host country, Cote d’Ivoire, Atlas Lion of Morocco, a semi-finalist at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, defending champions Senegal, or their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers opponent, Bafana Bafana of South Africa, following the mock-up draw.
Coach Jose Peseiro’s team secured their spot in the tournament by topping their qualifiers group, which consisted of Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and São Tomé and Principe.
Despite Nigeria’s recent FIFA ranking, they dropped to sixth position in Africa, trailing Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria, which prevented them from being seeded in Pot A for the tournament.
As host countries automatically qualify for the tournament and are also among the first seeds, Nigeria shares second-seed status with Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To accommodate ninth-ranked Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria had to drop to sixth position in rankings, and former champions South Africa were also unfortunate not to be seeded higher.
The other third seeds are Cape Verde, Guinea, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania, while the fourth seeds include Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Gambia, and Tanzania. Zambia, who won the championship in 2012 thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Didier Drogba-inspired Cote d’Ivoire, is back at the Cup of Nations after three consecutive qualifying failures.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has already set a semifinal target for coach Peseiro, who has consistently stated that his team will go all the way to win a fourth AFCON in Abidjan. In 1984, in Abidjan, the Super Eagles lost to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the tournament final under local coach Adeboye Onigbinde.
AFCON 2024: Eagles may face Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco as draw holds today
