The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has conducted the preliminary draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday at their headquarters in Cairo, Egypt ahead of the tournament be hosted by Morocco.
It comes just 10 days after the successful conclusion to the 34th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, hosted and won by the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire.
The draw involved 52 African nations that will compete in qualifying matches for the 2025 edition of the prestigious continental championship.
“A total of 52 nations will be engaged for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 qualifiers,” CAF noted in their statement.
Eight lowest ranked teams based on the FIFA rankings will first face off in home and away knockout matches. The four winners from these ties will advance to the group stage of qualifiers alongside 44 other nations.
In the preliminary knockout stage, CAF stated: “the four lowest ranked nations will play at home first, with the return leg to be hosted by the higher ranked opposing nation.”
The matches are scheduled for the next FIFA international break between March 20-26, 2024.
CAF announced the following preliminary stage pairings:
“TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Preliminary Draw Results:
M1 & 2 | Somalia vs Eswatini
M3 & 4 | Sao Tome vs South Sudan
M5 & 6 | Chad vs Mauritius
M7 & 8 | Djibouti vs Liberia
*Dates, Venues & Kick-Off Times TBC”
The official draw for the group stage will take place after the preliminary knockout round concludes.
