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The Confederation of African Football will conduct the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and here is everything you need to know.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) will conduct the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday.
Harambee Stars will be among the 48 teams in the draw hoping to avoid what would be termed the ‘Group of Death.’
Ahead of the draw, Pulse Sports brings you every detail you need to know from the procedures, teams and the time it will be conducted.
Procedure
The engaged teams will be grouped into four pots of 12.
The highest ranked nations as per the latest FIFA Rankings issued out on June 20, 2024 will occupy Pot 1, with the same procedure to be followed for Pot 2, 3 and 4 to make up the 48 nations.
The concluded draw of the qualifiers will be made up of 12 Groups of 4 teams (Group A to L), where the first and runners-up in the eleven (11) groups that do not involve tournament hosts Morocco, will gain qualification to the competition.
For teams that finish first and second in a group consisting of Morocco, who by virtue of being tournament hosts gain automatic qualification, the following scenarios will be applied:
-If the host is ranked first, the host is qualified in addition to the second of the group.
-If the host is ranked second, the host will qualify in addition to the first of the group.
-If the host is ranked third or fourth, the host will qualify in addition to the first of the group.
Pots
Harambee Stars are in Pot 3 meaning they can only avoid Mauritania, Congo, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Comoros, Togo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Malawi and Central African Republic who are also in the same pot.
However, they will face either Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, DR Congo and Ghana who make Pot 1 and one of Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Benin, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique and Madagascar who are in Pot 2.
Other possible opponents will be Niger, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, The Gambia, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Sudan or Chad who are the lowest ranked teams in Pot 4.
Time and where to watch
The draw will be conducted live from Johannesburg, South Africa at 3.30pm (East African Time) by 2023 AFCON winning coach CAF Emerse Fae of the Ivory Coast and former Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh.
The draw will be live on the CAF’s YouTube channel as well as their social media handles.
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