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.