Nigeria and Ghana to avoid each other at AFCON 2023 group stage as CAF release pots

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will avoid West African rivals Ghana in the group stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

This comes as both teams have been grouped in Pot 2 of the draw, which will be held on October 12, 2023, in Abidjan.

The twenty-four teams that have qualified for the tournament in Ivory Coast have been placed in four pots of six nations each.

The pairings were done based on the latest FIFA Coca-Cola rankings released on Thursday, as sighted on CAF's social media pages.

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The #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 draw is closing in. pic.twitter.com/3aD8gJDcBa

— CAF (@CAF_Online) September 21, 2023

The main draw will see six groups of four teams battle for the ultimate prize at the Nations Cup next year.

African champions Senegal are joined by World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, hosts Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria in Pot 1.

Five-time champions Cameroon join Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Pot 2; while Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania make up Pot 3.

Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Tanzania, and Gambia make up the final Pot.

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in January and February of 2024, as reported by the BBC.