The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has revealed the preliminary round draw for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) during a ceremony held at CAF’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
The draw, conducted on Tuesday, involved the eight lowest-ranked teams based on the last FIFA ranking, who will compete in the preliminary round to secure a spot in the group stage of the tournament.
Here is the breakdown of the preliminary round draw:
First Leg Matches:
- Somalia vs Eswatini
- Sao Tome vs South Sudan
- Chad vs Mauritius
- Djibouti vs Liberia
Second Leg Matches:
- Eswatini vs Somalia
- South Sudan vs Sao Tome
- Mauritius vs Chad
- Liberia vs Djibouti
The preliminary round matches are scheduled to be played on a home and away basis between March 20 and March 26, 2024.
Following the conclusion of the preliminary round, the four victorious teams will advance to join the 44 exempted teams in the group stage of the competition.
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals will feature a total of 24 teams, with the tournament set to be hosted by Morocco.
