The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to take place in January/ February of 2024. This edition of the tournament is set to be the 34th and the 3rd to take place in the northern hemisphere. 54 teams in total are taking part in the tournament including the host country Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast had won the tournament twice before in 1992 and 2015. And this edition around, the nation qualified as host. The group stage is yet to be played. So, the rest of the competing teams are yet to be decided. But you can expect Mohammed Salah to put Egypt through and Sadio Mané to make Senegal proud as well.
Top Tips for Successful AFCON Betting
Africa Cup of Nations Betting is pretty similar to any tournament with a knock out format. But there are still a few tips that could help you make better predictions. One pro tip is to have the weather in mind. Although this doesn’t have much of an impact on the direct outcome of the tournament, it does affect the players.
The CAF initially postponed the tournament to avoid scheduling conflicts with European leagues. But later on, it was postponed again due to the heat in the host country. Situations like that tend to exhaust players much faster than clear weather. Below are a few more relevant Africa Cup of Nations Betting tips that you could take advantage of.
Previous Years’ Trends
Statistics have a lot of worth in sports betting. And previous trends can give you plenty of insight into which teams could dominate the tournament in a certain year. The previous year winners of this tournament are Senegal after an exquisite run. But the team that dominated the tournament and earned the most titles is Egypt.
And based on how the tournament progresses, you could follow the past stats of these nations, along with a few other factors, to make the right prediction. One thing to keep in mind though, is that the AFCON is a biennial competition, meaning it is held every two years. So, looking back too far might give you stale statistics.
Team Line Ups
Of course, team line ups matter when you are participating in the Africa Cup of Nations betting craze. For nations that have singular star players, having them left out of the squad could have devastating consequences.
The starting line ups will probably be posted a couple of hours before each match. But you can get the entire squad list about a day before the match. And based on the performance of players and mindset of the coach, you can reasonably predict who might start.
And based on this, you could potentially pinpoint goal scorers and potential winners. Another important factor is the injury sheet. If Mohammed Salah becomes injured just before an important match for Egypt, you can probably expect fewer goals to be scored.
Form of Individual Players + Teams
Form of the individual players is important, but not as much as the form of the overall team. Although the AFCON is a biennial tournament, players take part in competitions for their respective clubs all year round. These competitions include the prestigious UCL and the EPL. So, you could follow a few of those matched just to stay up-to-date on the players.
But one thing to remember is that these players might have very different chemistry in the national team. They could fulfil their potentials to a higher degree. So, you should also follow all team releases to know about how the players play as a team.
Home Advantage
Playing on home grounds is always the advantage. But the only team getting that advantage this time around is Ivory Coast. Every other nation is just visiting to take part in the tournament. There might still be certain stadiums that might be more advantageous to a team than not. But it’s not worth considering for Africa Cup of Nations betting.
Top Bookmakers for Betting on AFCON
For Africa Cup of Nations betting, the very first thing you’ll want to research is sportsbooks that offer the tournament. The best sportsbooks will offer decent odds with a live streaming feature as well.
We have a few top picks of our own for Africa Cup of Nations betting. Our favourite is 22bet since the sportsbook offers a lot of interesting features. This includes a great welcome bonus of a 100% first deposit match up to 300,000 TZS (T&Cs apply)
Parimatch is another one of our favourites for Africa Cup of Nations betting. The sportsbook also offers a great welcome bonus of a 100% match up to 1,000,000 TZS (T&Cs apply). There are tons of other operators out there. But before you commit to one, you need to look at the odds, betting markets, and live coverage that it offers.
Types of Bets
There are a lot of different types of markets you could try out for Africa Cup of Nations betting. The most popular football betting markets are probably match winner and totals. Totals are the most popular type of market for Africa Cup of Nations betting.
There aren’t a lot of goals scored in the tournament in general. So, it can be tricky to determine whether the actual result will go over or under the prediction. But there are tons of other popular markets such as double chance and handicap betting. If you really want to make things interesting, you could try betting on the tournament winner.
AFCON Live Streaming and Live Betting
Live betting is amazingly popular for the AFCON. Punters in Tanzania absolutely love betting live on this tournament. And you can place your bets on any of the sportsbooks we mentioned earlier.
Most of the sportsbooks that are active in the region actually offer in-play betting. But you might have to look around for a good sportsbook that offers a live streaming feature. The tournament may be broadcasted on certain channels as well. But the best option is using a sportsbook since you can bet live and watch at the same time.
Take a look at the AFCON fixtures to find out when the matches are taking place.
AFCON History
It’s been about 66 years since the first ever AFCON was played back in 1957. The most successful team to participate in the competition is Egypt with 7 total titles. The nation actually won 3 concurrent titles in the 2006, 2008, and 2010 seasons.
The AFCON is overseen by the CAF. For the 2023 AFCON, it is also called the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons. The host, Ivory Coast is welcoming nations to it’s borders for the 2nd time hosting the tournament. There were tons of bids for the hosting position as well.
The Group Stages will begin in a while and soon we will be able to know about the nations qualifying for the Knockouts.
AFCON Stats and Records
We mentioned earlier that previous year stats are important for Africa Cup of Nations betting. And there are tons of stats that you can look up for the 66 year old tournament. The first ever edition had only 3 nations in attendance; Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
The reigning champions joined much later and back in 2021 was the first time Senegal became finalists. In the final, Senegal beat Egypt on penalties in a show stopping match. A total of 24 nations makes it as finalists and this next edition is set to be an exciting one.
⚽ Most Successful Teams
The most successful team in the AFCON is Egypt with 7 total titles. Ghana and Cameroon also have had good runs in the tournament.
⚽ Top Goal Scorers
The top goal scorer for the AFCON is Samuel Eto of Cameroon. And the nation has done great for itself in the tournament too.
Samuel Eto
Eto plays for Cameroon and is the all-time top goal scorer of the entire tournament. Since he has been called up for his nation, he has scored 18 goals in total.
Laurent Pokou
Pokou plays for Côte d’Ivoire alongside Didier Drogba and has scored a total of 14 goals for his nation.
Rasheed Yekini
Rasheed Yekini plays for Nigeria. The nation has an amazing record in the whole tournament. And Yekini has scored 13 total goals in the tournament.
Hasan-El-Shazly
Hasan, of Egypt, has scored a total of 12 goals in the AFCON.
Other Popular Tournaments
If you’re a fan of the AFCON, you might even enjoy the CHAN or the African Nations Championships. Punters in the region also enjoy betting on the Tanzania Premier League and the FA Cup.
In conclusion, Africa Cup of Nations Betting is one of the most popular pastimes for punters in Tanzania. And if you enjoy it, you might even enjoy betting on a couple of the other tournaments we mentioned.
FAQ
The next Africa Cup of Nations is taking place in January/ February 2024 in the Ivory Coast.
Senegal in a stunning penalty shootout won the last AFCON competition.
The AFCON is a biennial tournament.
Yes, you can bet on the AFCON at any sportsbook that covers the tournament.
The group stages are yet to take place, so this is unknown.
