AFCON 2023 qualification draw held: All you need to know

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, on Tuesday (April 19) held the draw for the qualification round for the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, tournament in Ivory Coast.

The draw for the 2023 AFCON which will be held in Côte d’Ivoire was held in the studios of SuperSport in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Countries including current holders, Senegal will be competing in a six-rounds of matches hoping to secure a ticket to the tournament.

The qualifiers will commence in June 2022 as 23 nations slug it out to join Ivory Coast for the tournament in summer 2023.

See full draws below:

Group A: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome e Principe or Mauritius

Group B: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Togo, Eswatini

Group C: Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Burundi

Group D: Egypt, Guinea, Malawi, Ethiopia

Group E: Ghana, Madagascar, Angola, Central African Republic

Group F: Algeria, Uganda, Niger, Tanzania

Group G: Mali, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, South Sudan

Group H: Ivory Coast (hosts), Zambia, Comoros, Lesotho

Group I: Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mauritania, Sudan

Group J: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Botswana

Group K: Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Liberia

Group L: Senegal (holders), Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda

Match Dates

May 30-June 14: Matchdays 1, 2

Sept 19-27: Matchdays 3, 4

March 20-28, 2023: Matchdays 5, 6

How teams will qualify

Winners and runners-up for each group except H will qualify for the 24-team tournament.

Ivory Coast have automatically qualified from Group H as tournament hosts.

While Kenya and Zimbabwe, who have been suspended by FIFA over government interference will be allowed to compete only if their ban is lifted by mid-May 2022.