Following last month’s grand closing to the Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote d’Ivoire where the hosts were crowned champions for the third time, Africa’s biggest competition is now shifting its focus to the 35th edition set to be held in Morocco next year.
A total of 52 Nations will be engaged to compete for a place in the 24-nation competition.
To mark the start of the qualifiers following the draw that was held in Cairo on 20 February 2024, eight (8) lowest ranked nations will compete in the Preliminary Qualifiers which started yesterday Wednesday, 20 March over a two-legged format that will decide the four nations that will join the other 44 African nations to make up the group stages of the qualifiers.
The journey officially gets underway yesterday Wednesday with Somalia playing host to Eswatini, while Djibouti faced Liberia.
Tomorrow Friday, Chad locks horns with Mauritius before Sao Tome and Principe takes on South Sudan.
The return legs will conclude on Tuesday, 26 March with all matches set to take place on the day to officially decide the preliminary phase of the competition.
