Draw for preliminary round of AFCON 2023 qualifiers set

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has decided that drawing of lots for the preliminary round of the qualifiers of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 will take place on January 21^st.

The CAF Executive Committee made the decision on January 7^th during their meeting held in Douala, Cameroon.

Samson Adamu, the CAF Competitions Director in a communication to general secretaries said the draw will be held at the Krystal Hotel in Douala.

The preliminary round will be played by knock-out system from home and away matches and shall include the less ranked teams in accordance to the FIFA ranking. The teams qualified from this round will reach the group will reach the group stage composed of 48 teams.

Some of the less ranked teams in Africa that could be placed in the draw for the preliminary round include; Eritrea (202), Seychelles (197), Somalia (194), Djibouti (192), Chad (180), Mauritius (172) and South Sudan (167) among others.

He made it clear that the draw for the group stage will be conducted after the matches in the preliminary stage have been played.

Cote d’Ivoire will host the AFCON 2023.