The draw for the preliminary round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for next year’s tournament in Morocco was recently conducted in Cairo.
The preliminary round consists of four two-legged knockout ties that are scheduled to be played between March 20-26.
These knockout ties will involve the bottom eight ranked entrants of the tournament.
Somalia, which is the lowest-ranked team, will face off against Eswatini, while Sao Tome e Principe will take on South Sudan.
The other two fixtures are between Chad and Mauritius and between Djibouti and Liberia.
It is worth noting that both Liberia and Mauritius have previously qualified for the Cup of Nations finals.
The winners of the four preliminary round ties will advance to the group stage of the qualifiers, where they will join 44 other countries.
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The 48 teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two in each group qualifying for the finals in Morocco.
It is interesting to note that Morocco will also participate in the qualifiers despite qualifying automatically as hosts.
This means that only one other country will qualify from their group.
The Confederation of African Football has yet to announce the date for the group phase draw or the finals of the Cup of Nations.
However, Morocco is keen to play in mid-2025, which will clash with the newly expanded Club World Cup in the U.S.
It is expected that the qualifiers for the Cup of Nations finals will be completed by the end of the year.
These qualifiers will be played in the three international windows in September, October, and November, with two rounds of matches in each window.
