After the hotly contested 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, 24 teams have picked up tickets for the tourney slated to take place in Egypt instead of the traditional 16 teams that had hitherto participated in the tournament.
2 countries have each been selected from 12 groups that is from Group A to Group L. This means that the first and second placed teams from each group have qualified for the tournament.
12 of the 16 nation’s that participated in the 2017 AFCON will be in Egypt for another continental football frenzy.They are; Winners Cameroon plus Egypt,Guinea Bissau,Senegal,Tunisia,Algeria, Zimbabwe,DRC, Morocco,Ivory Coast,Ghana,Mali, Uganda and host Egypt.
The likes of Nigeria,Angola, Equatorial Guinea,South Africa,Kenya, Tanzania Benin are making their comeback.
3 times winners Nigeria last participated in the tournament in 2013 and won it in South Africa ,Angola also returns for the first time since 2013 while Tanzania is coming back for the first time since 1980.
Kenya also end a 15 years wait since their last appearance in Tunisia in 2004,South Africa and Guinea will also be in April’s draw for the first time since Guinea 2015.
Namibia comes back 11 years after their last participation in Ghana in 2008 while Benin return for the first appearance since Angola 2010.
Madagascar,Burundi and Mauritania will all appear in the AFCON for the first time in their History.
Below is the list of qualified countries:
1. Egypt (hosts)
2. Côte d’Ivoire
3. Nigeria
4. Ghana
5. Algeria
6. Senegal
7. Morocco
8. Kenya
9. Guinea
10. Angola
11. Uganda
12. Mali
13. Madagascar
14. Mauritania
15. Burundi
16. Tunisia
17. Cameroon
18. Namibia
19. Guinea Bissau
20. Zimbabwe
21. RD Congo
22. Benin Republic
23. Tanzania
24. South Africa
With the conclusion of the qualifiers, what remains now is for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to put these countries into pots based on their previous performance in the tournament for the draws that will take place on April 12 in Cairo Egypt.
Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
