The AFCON World - Nigeria challenge the mighty champions; the trivia center and a lot more...

This Is What They’re Playing For..

With the 2013 edition of African Cup of Nations just mere months away, the participants were drawn against each other at the Durban International Convention Centre in South Africa on Wednesday night.

In the build up to the draw, the 16 teams were divided into four pots ahead. They were as follows:

Pot A - South Africa, Defending Champions Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Pot B - Tunisia, Nigeria, Mali and Angola.

Pot C - Morocco, Algeria,Niger and Burkina Faso

Pot D - Togo, Cape Verde, DR Congo and Ethiopia.

The 16 teams will play in five host cites throughout South Africa from January 19 to February 10, 2013, and the final draw provided the following result:

Group A:

South Africa, Angola, Morocco, Cape Verde

Group B:

Ghana, Mali, Niger, DR Congo

Group C:

Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia

Group D:

Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo

So, with the draw finally done, and the AFCON perhaps not being as popular some of the other continental tournaments, here are a few facts about Africa’s biggest football face-off, that might just incite you to look forward to the big extravaganza!

• AFCON was sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and was first held in 1957.
• However, it is since 1968, that the tournament has been held every two years.
• The first edition only consisted Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa were disqualified for their apartheid policies.
• Egypt is the most successful nation in the cup’s history, winning the tournament a record seven times.
• Samule Eto’o is the all time highest scorer with 18 goals!
• Ghana and Egypt have hosted the trophy most number of times, 4 to be precise
• The winner of the tournament qualifies for the coveted FIFA Confederations Cup as an African entry.
• Egypt have won the trophy for an unprecedented 3 times in a row in 2010.
• Zambia are the current holders of the cup, defeating Ivory Coast on penalties in the final, merely 12 months ago.

Players To Look Out For

A host of European stars and known names will be featuring in the coming AFCON tournament. Some of the big names are:

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)

Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)

Gervinho (Ivory Coast)

Sulley Muntari (Ghana)

Kevin Prince Boateng (Ghana)

Christopher Katongo (Zambia)

Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast)

Cheick Ismael Tioté (Ivory Coast)

Houssine Kharja (Morocco)

Note -

Due to fixture congestion, the tournament has been shifted to odd-numbered years from 2013 onward so that it doesn’t coincide with the World Cup. Several European clubs have called for a rethink of the tournament’s schedule as it takes place during the European season, and players who are involved miss several matches for their clubs. Things are being discussed, but the June-July period being the rainy season in many countries in Africa, hosting the tournament at that time of the year is difficult.