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Road to AFCON 2023 is mapped out

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The draw for the Africa Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire 2023 has been conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday evening, with exciting matches lined up towards next year’s tournament.

The draw was conducted by African football legends, former South Africa defender Lucas Radebe and ex Côte d’Ivoire forward Solomon Kalou.

Defending champions Senegal have been pooled in Group L where they will battle out with Benin, Mozambique and Rwanda.

Hosts Côte d’Ivoire are in Group H with Zambia, Comoros and Lesotho. Only one team will qualify from this group, alongside the hosts. Comoros who were one of the surprise packages at the delayed 2021 showpiece in Cameroon are seeking for a second consecutive qualification.

Losing finalists from the 2021 showpiece Egypt have meanwhile been drawn in Pool D and Mohamed Salah will fancy another battle against club teammate Naby Keita as they have been drawn with Guinea, Malawi and Ethiopia.

There will be several derbies as well with East African rivals Uganda and Tanzania drawn together again, and they will face off in Group F together with 2019 champions Algeria and Niger.

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Uganda and Tanzania faced off in the qualifiers for the 2019 showpiece where they drew 0-0 in the first leg in Kampala and Tanzania winning 3-0 in Dar es Salaam.

Tanzania also faced Algeria at the subsequent tournament in Egypt, where they suffered a 3-0 defeat.

Check the complete draw of the 2023 Africa Cup of qualifiers that was conducted on Tuesday

The top two teams of each group qualify for the final tournament that will be held in Cote d’Ivoire in 2023. But in Group comprising of Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Comoros and Lesotho; only one team will qualify as Cote d’Ivoire are automatic qualifiers.

Group A

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Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Guinea Bissau
Sao Tome / Mauritius

Group B

Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Togo
Eswatini

Group C

Cameroon
Kenya
Namibia
Burundi

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Group D

Egypt
Guinea
Malawi
Ethiopia

Group E

Ghana
Madagascar
Angola
Central African Republic

Group F

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Algeria
Uganda
Niger
Tanzania

Group G

Mali
Congo
Gambia
South Sudan

Group H

Cote d’Ivoire
Zambia
Comoros
Lesotho

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Group I

DR Congo
Gabon
Mauritania
Sudan

Group J

Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Botswana

Group K

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Morocco
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Liberia

Group L

Senegal
Benin
Mozambique
Rwanda

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFCON

Libya’s AFCON dreams go up in flames!

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The hopes of Libya securing a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations ticket seem to have gone up in smoke.  This is the sequel to the 2-1 defeat that Rwanda inflicted on the Benin Republic on Tuesday evening.

With the result, Libya’s position is further cemented at the bottom of the table. Nigeria, even with an outstanding match, still leads with seven points.

They are followed by Benin Republic who have six points. Rwanda followed with five points.

The star men were  Innocent Nshuti and Djihad Bizimana  who scored in the space of two minutes as Rwanda came from behind to defeat Benin 2-1 at Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday, October 15.

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AFCON

Rwanda breaks 12-year jinx in victory over Benin Republic

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FILE PHOTO: Rwanda players celebrate in the dressing room after beating Lesotho 1-0 on Tuesday in Durban, South Africa, to go top of Group C in the ongoing World Cup 2026 qualifiers-courtesy.

Rwanda’s defeat of Benin Republic is not just their first win in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, the victory terminates a 12-year winless streak against the Cheetah of Benin.

It is also a renewal of their hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. But they still have two more games to play.

The German made two changes from the side that started against Benin last week as Samuel Gueulette and Emmanuel Imanishimwe came in for Kevin Muhire and Claude Niyomugabo respectively.

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AFCON

Libya vs Nigeria: CAF lifts the burden off Nigeria

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The press release on Tuesday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) may have lifted a burden off Nigeria as the match with Libya is considered postponed rather than the Super Eagles refusing to play.

The continental body remarked that the matter would be referred to the competent CAF bodies.

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