The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handpicked a quartet of past and present African stars as assistants for the final draws of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled for Thursday in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Two-time African Player of the Year and former Ivory Coast national team captain Didier Drogba, 2013 AFCON winner and former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi, reigning African Player of the Year Sadio Mane, and Moroccan fullback Achraf Hakimi have all been selected by CAF as draw assistants for the ceremony set for the brand-new Parc des Expositions building.
???????? @didierdrogba
???????? @AchrafHakimi
???????? @mikel_john_obi
???????? Sadio ManéYour #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 Draw Ambassadors ???? pic.twitter.com/bFKt4MYA5s
— CAF (@CAF_Online) October 12, 2023
Drogba, who is Ivory Coast’s all-time top goal scorer with 65 goals in 105 internationals, leads the star-studded list as the hometown hero. The former Chelsea forward bagged 11 goals in 24 AFCON matches for the Cote d’Ivoire and helped the Elephants to two AFCON finals in 2006 and 2012.
Nigerian legend and captain of the last Super Eagles team that won the AFCON, Mikel, is also a big presence at the event.
Saudi-based Mane, who scored the winning penalty in Senegal’s first AFCON triumph in Cameroon in 2021, is one of two active players in the draw assistant line-up. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward is Senegal’s all-time leading scorer with 38 international goals and has scored eight goals in 18 games at the AFCON for the Teranga Lions, and he will be looking to add to it when the tournament kicks off next year.
Paris Saint-Germain right back Hakimi was part of the Atlas Lions team that made Africa proud at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where they made a historic run to the semi-final. The 24-year-old, who is expected to be at the tournament in 2024, will also have an eye on his side’s draw.
????️ #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 draw
???? October 12
⏰ 19:00 GMTBE READY! pic.twitter.com/yt0kZo9eUN
— CAF (@CAF_Online) October 11, 2023
The draw, which will kick off at 7 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Nigerian time), will see all 24 participating teams get to know their respective groups and opponents for the 34th edition of the biggest football event on the African sphere.
The final draw will be live in over 50 countries on CAF TV (YouTube) and across CAF’s global TV partners.
