Preliminary draw conducted for 2025 AFCON qualifying series

On Tuesday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), held the official preliminary draw for qualifying of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, to be hosted by Morocco, at their headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. A total of 52 African national teams will be participating in the qualifying campaign for the continental championship.

To begin, the eight lowest-ranked sides based on the current FIFA world rankings will face off in 4 home-and-away knockout round ties. The four winners from these matches will progress to the group stage of qualifying, where they will join the remaining 44 African national sides. These preliminary stage clashes are set to be held during the next official FIFA international break, running from March 20-26. Specific dates, venues and kickoff times are still to be confirmed by CAF.

Once the preliminary stage is decided after those March fixtures, CAF will conduct the official draw for the group stage of qualifying. The 2025 AFCON promises to be another exciting edition of the tournament, with Morocco preparing to host the continent’s top talent three years from now.

After the successful completion of the recent 2024 tournament in Cote d’Ivoire, attention now turns to the race to reach Morocco 2025. With an expanded field of 24 sides set to compete at the finals, qualification will be more coveted than ever.