AFCON draw on today

FRESH from their Cosafa Cup heartbreak in South Africa, the Zimbabwe senior men’s team will learn their opponents in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 qualifiers when the draw for the competition is conducted this afternoon.

The draw for the qualifiers will be conducted at SuperSport studios in South Africa at 14h30 local time (15h30 Cairo time, 12h30 GMT) in Johannesburg South Africa.

Zimbabwe will be making a return to the qualifiers after missing the battles for a place in Cote d’Ivoire as the country served a FIFA suspension. The Warriors last featured at the 2021 Afcon finals in Cameroon.

According to CAF, a total of 48 Nations, including the four winners from the preliminary round (Chad, Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan) will be drawn into 12 Groups of four teams each to battle it out for places at the finals.

Headlining the confirmed Nations for the draw are reigning African champions Cote d’Ivoire joined by Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini and Ethiopia.

Others include Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The qualifiers are scheduled to kick-off in September 2024 to determine the first 24 nations that will compete for Africa’s biggest event, the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in 2025.

Fresh from the thrills and successes of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 where the host nation defied all odds to claim their third title, a line-up of intriguing matches is expected for the journey to the 35th edition of the showpiece continental sporting event. In attendance will be selected CAF legends, representatives of the participating teams, members of the Local Organising Committee for TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 amongst others.—@innocentskizoe