The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has set the dates for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be hosted in Côte d'Ivoire.

The tournament will begin on June 23 and run through July 23, with 24 countries vying for the coveted silverware.

CAF changed the date of the tournament from January to June in order to give the teams adequate time to prepare because of the short time frame if it were to be held in January next year.

Rwanda, whose only appearance in the competition was in 2004 in Tunisia, will be hoping to end the 19-year absence by qualifying for the biggest soccer fiesta on the continent.

Draws for the preliminary qualifiers will be announced on January 21, 2022.