Africa: TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Group Stage Qualifiers Officially Get Underway on Wednesday

4 September 2024
Confederation of African Football (Giza)

The group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will officially get underway this afternoon, as the journey towards securing a place at the 35th continental showpiece officially kicks off the exciting group stages of the qualifiers.

Following the record-breaking TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2023 success in Cote d’Ivoire earlier this year, Morocco has officially taken hold of the baton and eagerly awaits to host Africa and the rest of the world for what promises to be yet another successful spectacle of African football.

A total of 12 groups of 4 will be in action this week where 48 African nations will be contending the top two spots available in their respective groups that will see them earn a place in Morocco next year.

Tournament hosts, Morocco have been drawn in an interesting group consisting of Gabon, Central African Republic as well as Lesotho who will all be aiming at amassing as many points as possible, with Morocco already guaranteed a place.

Reigning African champions, Cote d’Ivoire will be in action against former champions, Zambia in their opening Group G clash of qualifiers.

Chipolopolo, who did not put up a good showing in Cote d’Ivoire will be looking at starting off the qualifiers on a good note, but will not have steep mountain to climb against the in-form defending champions.

Sierra Leone as well as Chad are the other two nations aiming to cause an upset against the two former champions in the group.

AFCON silver-medallists, Nigeria are in Group D alongside Benin, Libya and Rwanda, while former champions, Senegal will look to navigate their way around a tricky Group L consisting of Burkina Faso, Malawi and Burundi.

A lot will be expected of the most successful nation in AFCON history, when record title holders, Egypt face the high rising Cape Verde in their opening Group C clash.

Contention for the top two places in Group C will be a heated race, with the plucky Mauritania and the ever-ambitious Botswana also in the mix.

All group matches will be played on a home and away basis, with the top two finishers guaranteed a place at the finals with the exception of the following permutations:

The two finishers of the groups that do not involved Morocco (Group B), will gain automatic qualification to the finals.

For teams that finish first and second in a group consisting of Morocco, who by virtue of being tournament hosts gain automatic qualification, the following scenarios will be applied:

If the host is ranked first, the host is qualified in addition to the second of the group.
    If the host is ranked second, the host will qualify in addition to the first of the group.
    If the host is ranked third or fourth, the host will qualify in addition to the first of the group.

All TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifiers action can be followed across all CAF Digital Platforms in real time.

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