Patrick Juillard, Media365, published on Wednesday September 4, 2024 at 11:25 a.m.
The CAN 2025 qualifiers begin this Wednesday across Africa. Presentation and full schedule of the first two days, scheduled this week.
CAN 2025 qualifiers begin this Wednesday. Forty-eight teams, divided into twelve groups of four, will compete for the 23 tickets at stake, the Morocco being automatically qualified as the host country of this thirty-fifth edition. In this group B, the Gabon Mario Lemina and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s match, the favourite to pocket the only qualifying ticket, begins on Friday in Agadir, on the Atlas Lions’ pitch. As for the Ivory Coastthe defending champion, will launch its campaign at the same time by hosting Zambia in Bouaké. Winner of the 2021 edition, the Senegal will face Burkina Faso as their first opponent on Friday, while NigeriaAfrican vice-champion still without a full coach after Bruno Labbadia’s about-face, will host Benin the following day, the one that defeated them in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers last June in Abidjan.
Algeria in reconquest, Cameroon on the verge of implosion
In reconquest under the leadership of Vladimir Petkovic, theAlgeria hosts Equatorial Guinea on Thursday in Oran. Now coached by the adventurer Tom Saintfiet, the Mali will face Mozambique, while a rematch of the last CAN will pit Guinea against the DR Congo. Last to play for this first day, the Cameroon welcomes a Namibia in progress on Saturday against a backdrop of open war between the Federation, chaired by Samuel Eto’o, and the Ministry of Sports. The latter has long wanted to play in Yaoundé, where the Indomitable Lions are gathered under the direction of the coach, Marc Brys, but the match against the Brave Warriors should be held in Garoua, in accordance with the wishes of Fécafoot and the validation of CAF. The U20s are there to put pressure on the Belgian coach. Atmosphere…
An accelerated… and busy schedule
These qualifiers will end, overloaded schedule obliges, from November 2024. That is more than a year before the kick-off of the competition: initially planned for the summer period, this 2025 edition will take place in winter and span two years, since it will begin on December 21, 2025 and end on January 18, 2026. Morocco will host the final phase of the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time in its history after that of 1988, won by Cameroon.
Program of the first two days of the CAN 2025 qualifiers:
Group A:
Wednesday September 4: Comoros – Gambia
Thursday September 5: Tunisia – Madagascar
Sunday September 8: Gambia – Tunisia
Monday September 9: Madagascar – Comoros
Group B:
Thursday September 5: Central African Republic – Lesotho
Friday September 6: Morocco – Gabon
Monday September 9: Lesotho – Morocco
Tuesday September 10: Gabon – Central African Republic
Group C:
Friday September 6: Egypt – Cape Verde
Friday September 6: Mauritania – Botswana
Tuesday September 10: Botswana – Egypt
Tuesday September 10: Cape Verde – Mauritania
Group D:
Wednesday September 4: Libya – Rwanda
Saturday September 7: Nigeria – Benin
Tuesday, September 10: Rwanda – Nigeria
Tuesday September 10: Benin – Libya
Group E:
Thursday September 5: Algeria – Equatorial Guinea
Friday September 6: Togo-Liberia
Monday September 9: Equatorial Guinea – Togo
Tuesday September 10: Liberia – Algeria
Group F:
Wednesday September 4: Sudan – Niger
Thursday September 5: Ghana – Angola
Monday September 9: Niger – Ghana
Monday September 9: Angola – Sudan
Group G:
Friday September 6: Sierra Leone – Chad
Friday September 6: Ivory Coast – Zambia
Tuesday, September 10: Zambia – Sierra Leone
Tuesday September 10: Chad – Ivory Coast
Group H:
Wednesday September 4: Tanzania – Ethiopia
Friday September 6: DR Congo – Guinea
Monday September 9: Ethiopia – DR Congo
Tuesday September 10: Guinea – Tanzania
Groupe I :
Thursday September 5: Guinea-Bissau – Eswatini
Friday September 6: Mali – Mozambique
Tuesday, September 10: Swaziland – Mali
Tuesday September 10: Mozambique – Guinea-Bissau
Group J:
Friday 6 September : Kenya – Zimbabwe
Saturday September 7: Cameroon – Namibia
Tuesday September 10: Namibia – Kenya
Tuesday September 10: Zimbabwe – Cameroon
Group K:
Thursday September 5: Congo – South Sudan
Friday September 6: South Africa – Uganda
Monday September 9: Uganda – Congo
Tuesday September 10: South Sudan – South Africa
Group L:
Thursday September 5: Malawi – Burundi
Friday September 6: Senegal – Burkina Faso
Monday September 9: Burundi – Senegal
Tuesday 10 September: Burkina Faso – Malawi