The 2022 Africa Cup is underway, the most important event for the national teams on the African continent. Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt are just some of the formations that will battle it out in the state of Cameroon for an event that has always been very heartfelt and that Europe is watching very closely, given the many stars of the top clubs of the old continent that are present on the field. It will also be very popular with betting enthusiasts with the best betting sites who have already published all the odds that we will see shortly. The tournament will close with the grand final scheduled for 6 February at the Paul Biya stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon (which seats up to 65,000 spectators).
The players have left their club teams to go to Africa for the competition and will begin training with their respective national teams before the start of the tournament. After a couple of matches on the opening day, the group stage will see three or four matches played per day.
The first two teams of each of the six groups will advance to the direct elimination phase, along with the four best third-placed teams based on points. The direct elimination phase will begin on January 23, with quarter-finals scheduled for January 29, semi-finals on February 2, and as mentioned, the final and third-place play-off on February 6.
African Cup of Nations 2023 winning odds
Out of the 24 teams that qualified for the tournament, seven of them completed the qualification phase undefeated. The qualifications were tight, with 10 out of the 11 qualification groups being decided by a narrow margin of one or two points.
Algeria is the reigning national team; it will be captained by Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City. They will face strong competition, however, from Egypt and Senegal, both led by Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, not to mention Kalidou Koulibaly, the Napoli's flagship and captain of his national team.
The team of Ivory Coast has a series of stars such as Franck Kessié from Milan and Haller from Ajax (top scorer in Champions League). Nigeria was unleashed during the qualifying rounds, but will be without its biggest star, the Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, who tested positive for COVID-19 and is still recovering from a serious injury suffered during the league.
Here are the top 5 favorite teams to win the 2023 Africa Cup according to LeoVegas:
- Senegal 4.75
- Algeria 5.50
- Nigeria 6.00
- Cameroon 8.00
- Morocco 8.50
- Ivory Coast 9.00
- Egypt 10
- Mali 15
- Tunisia 20
- Ghana 20
African Cup top scorer
There are many famous names among the star teams in Africa this January. No one in the tournament has scored more international goals than Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Algeria's attack is loaded, with Riyad Mahrez of Man City alongside Baghdad Bounedjah, who scored four goals in the qualifiers and has an incredible goal-scoring record with Qatar's Al-Sadd club.
The Ivory Coast also has a number of key players up front, with Sebastien Haller paired up front with the duo of Nicolas Pepe and Wilfried Zaha. Haller has scored 12 goals in 17 Eredivisie matches this season, but most importantly he scored an impressive 10 goals in six Champions League group stage matches.
These are the top ten players who have the best chances of winning the top scorer award for the 2023 Africa Cup:
- Aboubakar V. 3.50
- Salah M. 5,50
- Mane S. 9.00
- Mahrez R. 10
- Iheanacho K. 12
- Slimani I. 12
- Haller S. 12
- Choupo-Moting M. 25
- Ekambi K. 25
- Bounedjah B. 25
