Djibouti to face South Sudan in AFCON 2023 Preliminary round qualifier

CECAFA teams Djibouti and South Sudan have been paired to face off in the preliminary round of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifiers.

In the preliminary round conducted this afternoon by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Douala, Cameroon draw, the two teams from the region will face-off in March this year.

The other teams from the CECAFA region Somalia will face Eswatini, while Eritrea take on Botswana. The other matches will see Sao Tome & Principe take on Mauritius, while Seychelles face Lesotho, and Chad battle the Gambia.

The draw was conducted by former Cameroon captain Rigobert Song and Nigeria’s former star Emmanuel Amunike.

The Preliminary Round saw the 12 least ranked teams divided into two levels. The six highest ranked teams (of the 12) will play against the six least ranked teams (the first leg will be played at home of the lower ranked teams).

The six aggregate winners will join the 42 highest ranked teams into the Group Stage of the qualifiers.

Samson Adamu, the CAF Competitions Director said this is the first time that all 54 CAF members have registered to take part in qualifiers for an AFCON. The AFCON 2023 will be hosted by Cote d’Ivoire.

Preliminary draw

Eritrea v Botswana

Sao Tome & Principe v Mauritius

Djibouti v South Sudan

Seychelles v Lesotho

Somalia v Eswatini

Chad v Gambia