AFCON 2025 qualifiers
Somalia ready to battle Eswatini in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers
The national team of Somalia will take to the field on Wednesday night in their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) preliminary round qualifier against Eswatini.
Somalia will host the match at the El Abdi Stadium in El Jadida in Morocco, before the return leg is played on March 26th in South Africa.
Rachid Lousteque, Somalia’s coach has made it clear that it will be very important to get a good result in the first leg before they travel for the return leg. “We need to be clinical and take our chances and win with a good score. We cannot underrate the Eswatini team,” added the Moroccan.
Lousteque has been in-charge of the Somalia team for over a year now and has not won any match after six games. Late last year Somalia lost to Algeria 3-1 and 1-0 to Uganda in FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying ties.
Two other teams from the CECAFA Zone Djibouti and South Sudan will also be in action in the other preliminary matches of the qualifiers on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Djibouti will host Liberia at the Marrakech Stadium in Morocco, while South Sudan take on Sao Tome and Principe at the Municipal Stadium in Berkane, also in Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that all the return legs will be played on March 26th, 2024.
The four (4) preliminary round winners will join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage.
South Sudan have qualified for the group stage of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifiers.
After holding Sao Tome and Principe to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the preliminary round last week, the hosts Bright Star playing at the same Municipal Stadium in Berkane, Morocco on Tuesday settled for goalless draw to qualify on an away goal’s rule.
The South Sudan head coach Nicolas Dupius said although they have made it to the group stage of the qualifiers, there is still a lot of work to be done. “We need to keep preparing well for the many matches ahead of us,” he added.
The other teams from the CECAFA Zone Djibouti and Somalia failed to make it past the preliminary round hurdle.
Somalia held hosts Eswatini to 2-2 draw in a match played at the Mbombela Stadium in South Africa on Tuesday. But Eswatini went on to qualify on a 5-2 goal aggregate. Djibouti also managed to hold hosts Liberia to a goalless draw, but bowed out on a 2-0 goal aggregate.
Chad also joined the group stage of the qualifiers after ejecting Mauritius 3-1 on aggregate.
The four (4) preliminary round winners will now join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage.
The Bright Star of South Sudan have secured a 1-1 draw in the first leg tie of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 preliminary round qualifier.
In the match played on Friday night in Berkane in Morocco, the Bright Star managed to hold the hosts Sao Tome and Principe to give them hope of making it to the next stage.
After a goalless first half, the hosts took the lead through Luis Leal after 50 minutes, but Joseph Dahatha leveled matters after 78 minutes.
Nicolas Dupius, the South Sudan coach said that his team had many some good chances to score, but did not take them. “We have to prepare well ahead of the return leg in next few days,” added Dupius.
The other teams from the CECAFA Zone Somalia suffered a 3-0 defeat to Eswatini, while Djibouti lost 2-0 to Liberia in the other preliminary matches played few days ago.
All the return legs will be played on March 26th, 2024. The four (4) preliminary round winners will join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage.
CECAFA teams Somalia and Djibouti suffered defeats in the first leg preliminary round of the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Somalia suffered a 3-0 defeat to Eswatini, while Djibouti lost 2-0 to Liberia, with all matches played in Morocco on Wednesday night.
The Somalia team tried to control the match, but found the going very tough against a strong Eswatini team. Sabelo Ndzinisa netted a brace, while Felicio Figuareido also got his name on the score sheet for Eswatini in a match played at the Ahmed El Abdi Stadium.
In the second match played at the Marrakech Stadium, Mohammed Sangare scored from the spot after 23 minutes, and skipper Murphy Dorley made it 2-0 for the Lone Stars later within the first half.
On Saturday another team from the CECAFA Zone South Sudan will battle Sao Tome and Principe at the Municipal Stadium in the Moroccan town of Berkane.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that all the return legs will be played on March 26th, 2024.
The four (4) preliminary round winners will join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage.
Three teams from the CECAFA Zone have today been drawn in the preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifiers.
The draw for the eight lowest-ranked teams according to the FIFA rankings were drawn on Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt.
Djibouti have been draw to face Liberia in what promises to be a tough face-off over two legs, while Somalia will take on Eswatini. South Sudan will battle Sao Tome, while Chad take on Mauritius in the other fixture of the preliminary stage.
According to the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), the matches will be played on home and away between March 20-26, 2024. The four (4) preliminary round winners will join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage.
Another member from the CECAFA Zone Eritrea Football Federation (EFF) did not enter their team for the qualifiers.
Morocco will host the 34th edition of TotalEnergies CAF AFCON.
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