The draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifiers will take place on July 4^th, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Eight teams from the CECAFA Zone including South Sudan who made it through the preliminary round will be drawn in the 12 groups.

The African Football governing body, CAF confirmed on Thursday that the draw will take place before the qualifiers kick-off in September 2024 to determine the first 24 nations that will qualify for the event to take place in Morocco.

Only Tanzania qualified from the CECAFA Zone and played in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 that took place in Ivory Coast. At the 2021 AFCON held in Cameroon, the CECAFA Zone was represented by Sudan and Ethiopia.

The eight CECAFA teams that will be drawn include; South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burundi.

The other teams to be drawn for the qualifiers include; Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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.