Zambia will learn their group opponents for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire today (Thursday) when the draw takes place at the Parc des Expositions in Abidjan at 21:00 hours (CAT). The Chipolopolo boys, who are making their return to the continental showpiece after an eight-year absence, are placed in Pot 3 together with Cape Verde, South Africa, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea. This means that Zambia cannot meet any of these teams in the group stage. The hosts, Ivory Coast, are in Pot 1 alongside defending champions Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. Pot 2 has Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Congo DR while Pot 4 has Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Gambia, and Tanzania. The 24 participating teams will be divided into six (6) groups (A, B, C, D, E & F) of four (4) teams each. The host country is at the top of Group A in position A1. The trophy holder will be the head of one of the remaining five groups. The other four group leaders will be determined based on their FIFA ranking. These top six teams make up Level I. The other 18 teams are distributed in groups of six in each remaining level (Level II, Level III, and Level IV) according to their FIFA ranking. The seedings were done according to the FIFA official ranking issued on the 21st of September 2023. Five cities will host this year's competition with Abidjan hosting Group A and B while the rest of the host cities are Yamoussoukro, Bouake, Korhogo, and San Pedro. The competition will kick off next year in January, and Zambia is using the friendly games against Egypt and Uganda as part of preparations for the AFCON tournament and World Cup qualifiers. Zambia is hoping to make a good impression at their return to the AFCON after a long absence.