The 18 teams that will take part at the seventh edition of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship(CHAN), Algeria 2023 have been revealed.
Big names like Dr Congo, Morocco and Libya will be part of the competition as previous winners.
While Ghana and Senegal will be making a return to the competition for close to a decade.
Meanwhile, Madagascar is the only debutant in the tournament, while Tunisia are the biggest absentee as they are serving a suspension after they boycotted the previous edition in Cameroon.
North Zone: Algeria, Morocco and Lybia.
Host nation Algeria will be making their fourth appearance in the competition as the host nation. Their best Achievement was in 2011 when they finished fourth.
Libya will be in their fifth appearance in the competition and is one of the successful nations in the tournament, having seen them lift the trophy in 2014 in South Africa.
The Moroccans are the defending champions going into next year’s CHAN. The Atlas Lions won the competition twice in 2018 and 2020. Only Dr Congo has the same number.
West A Zone
The Taranga lions are making a return to the CHAN for close to 12 years. This will be their third appearance in Algeria in 2023. Their best achievement was in 2009 when they finished fourth. They finally beat Guinea on penalties, after they have been deprived by Guinea of taking part in the 2016, 2018 and 2020 editions.
The Eagles of Mali will be in their fifth appearance in the competition after defeating Sierra Leon 4-1 on aggregate. They finished runners-up in 2016 and 2020.
Mauritania will be in their third appearance after missing out on the previous edition. They have never gone past the group stage.
West B Zone
The Ivory Coast will be making their fifth appearance in the tournament after defeating Burkina Faso 5-3 on Penalties. They finished third in 2016.
Ghana beat Nigeria 5-4 on penalties to qualify for their fourth CHAN tournament. The black galaxy finished as runner-up in 2009 and 2014.
Niger beat Togo 3-1 on aggregate to seal through to the final tournament. This is their fourth appearance and has managed a quarter-final finish in 2011.
Central Zone
The intermediate lions of Cameroon survived a scare after being led by a goal against Equatorial Guinea in the first leg. The boys of Alioum Saidou bounce back in Garoua to beat the National Thunders 2-0 to qualify for a fifth CHAN. They finished fourth in 2020 when they hosted the competition.
Dr Congo will be making a record sixth appearance in the competition after defeating Chad 7-1 on aggregate. The Leopards have been crowned champions twice in 2009 and 2016.
Congo Brazzaville had a 2-2 draw on aggregate with CAR but seal through due to the away goal rule. This is their fourth appearance and has reached the quarter-final twice in 2011 and 2016.
Central-East Zone
Ethiopia beat Rwanda 1-0 on aggregate to qualify for a third CHAN. They have never crossed the group stage.
Uganda is also in their record sixth participation after defeating Tanzania 4-0 on aggregate. They have never crossed the group stage.
Sudan also qualified for the third CHAN following a 7-3 aggregate win over Djibouti. They finished third in 2011 and 2018.
South Zone
Angola beat South Africa 4-1 on aggregate to pick their fourth ticket to the CHAN. They finished fourth in 2011.
Madagascar beat Botswana 2-1 on aggregate to qualify for their first-ever CHAN competition.
Meanwhile, Mozambique made it through the tournament on the away goal rule following a 1-1 aggregate scoreline. They are in their second appearance and have never crossed the group stage.
It should be noted that this is the first time the African Nations Championship will be played with 18 teams, having seen the previous six editions have been played with 16 teams. The 18 teams will be divided into five groups.
The first three groups will have four teams, while the last two groups will have three teams. They first two of the first three groups will join the first place teams of the other two groups to constitute the knockout phase.
The 2023 CHAN will run from January 8 to 31, 2023 in Algeria.
