 qualification series){kind=link}
|
Listen now
|
Three-time African champions and four-time runners-up, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will know their group opponents when the draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification series is staged at the SuperSport Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday evening.
The event will commence at 6.30pm Nigeria time (which is 7.30pm in South Africa).
AFCON 2023 qualification will see total of 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each, with only the winner of each group guaranteed a slot at the 34th Africa Cup of Nations that Cote d’Ivoire will stage next year summer. Hosts Cote d’Ivoire are guaranteed a place, alongside the best three second–placed teams in all the 12 groups.
Read Also: AFCON: Tunisia Knock out 10-man Super Eagles
Nigeria, who finished in third place at the AFCON 2019 finals in Egypt and reached the Round of 16 at AFCON 2021 in Cameroon, is among the 12 teams in Pot 1 – the teams that will head the 12 qualification groups. Others in Pot 1 are reigning champions Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire. Cote d’Ivoire’s participation will be only for formality sake.
Being in the same pot guarantees that none of these teams can be in the same group during the qualification campaign that will last between June 2022 and March 2023. The first two matchdays are in June, with two other matchdays in September and the final two matchdays to take place in March 2023.
In Pot 2 are South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Gabon, Benin Republic, Uganda, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
Pot 3 comprises Namibia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Niger Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Zimbabwe, The Gambia, Angola and Comoros.
Tanzania, Central African Republic, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Liberia, South Sudan and Sao Tome & Principe make up Pot 4.