AFCON: Peseiro Gets January Deadline To Submit Squad List

• Sodiq Yusuf

Head coach Jose Peseiro has just over three months to assemble and present Nigeria’s Super Eagles squad list for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has mandated that all 24 finalists, including Nigeria, must submit their final 23-man squads not later than midnight on January 3, 2024.

The AFCON tournament, originally scheduled for a different timeframe, has been rescheduled from January 13 to February 11 next year.

To meet CAF’s requirements, all participating teams must present a 55-man provisional squad before the year’s end.

Three-time AFCON champion Nigeria face a potentially challenging group stage due to not being seeded for the draw set for October 12.

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This means they could share the first-round group with difficult opponents such as defending champions Senegal, 2022 World Cup semifinalists Morocco, former winners Tunisia, tournament’s host, Cote d’Ivoire, or the AFCON’s most successful team, Egypt.

Interestingly, the Nigeria Football Federation has set a semifinal target for coach Peseiro at the AFCON tournament.

In terms of seeding, Nigeria’s Super Eagles find themselves in Pot 2, as confirmed by CAF. This pot includes teams like Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.

The remaining pots are as follows: Pot 3 includes South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania. Pot 4 contains Guinea Bissau, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Gambia, and Tanzania.

The official draw ceremony is scheduled to take place in Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday, October 12, setting the stage for what promises to be an exciting and highly competitive 2023 AFCON.

Cote d’Ivoire is hosting the biennial competition, which will run from January 13 to February 11, 2024.