AFCON 2019 Qualifiers: Super Eagles to face S/Africa, Libya
AFCON 2019 Qualifiers: Super Eagles to face S/Africa, Libya
The Super Eagles celebrate scoring against Algeria in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match last November. They have been drawn with South Africa, Libya and Seychelles in the race for the 2019 Africa Cup of nations.
The Super Eagles have been handed what appears an ‘easy’ draw on paper in the race for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), following the draws which were conducted on Thursday.Nigeria was drawn in Group E, along with South Africa, Libya and Seychelles for the 2019 AFCON qualifiers, which will see the winner of the group gaining automatic qualification to the next edition of Africa’s showpiece football event.
Read also: Moses showers praise on Conte for transforming him
Along with Algeria, Ghana, Congo DR, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Tunisia, Zambia, Cape Verde and Burkina Faso, Nigeria were one of the seeded teams in Pot 1.
This development would be met with approval by the Nigerian fans, and should present the Super Eagles another to qualify for the Africa for the AFCON, after failing to do so for the last two editions – in the 2015 and 2017.
For the 2015 edition, the Super Eagles also had South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in their group, but failed to progress after they were held to a 2-2 draw in the final qualifying game in Uyo, in a game they needed to win.
In other groups, hosts Cameroon who have already qualified as hosts, are in Group B alongside Morocco, Malawi and either Comoros or Mauritius. But unlike the qualifying tournament of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, all matches of the host team will count leading us to the 3 following scenarios:
1. If the host team is the winner of the group, the runner-up will automatically qualify to the final tournament. No other team will be eligible to qualify from this group.
2. If the host team is the runner-up, only the winner of the group will qualify to the final tournament.
3. If the host team is either in 3rd or 4th place, the winner of the group qualifies to the final tournament and the runner-up will be eligible to qualify as one of the best runners-up.
Complete Draw:
Group A: Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Sao Tome/Madagascar
Group B: Cameroon, Morocco, Malawi, Comoros/Mauritius
Group C: Mali, Gabon, Burundi, Djibouti/South Sudan
Group D: Algeria, Togo, Benin, The Gambia
Group E: Nigeria, South Africa, Libya, Seychelles
Group F: Ghana, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya
Group G: DR Congo, Congo, Zimbabwe, Liberia
Group H: Ivory Coast, Guinea, Central African Republic, Rwanda
Group I: Burkina Faso, Angola, Botswana, Mauritania
Group J: Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Swaziland
Group K: Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia
Group L: Cape Verde, Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho
The qualifiers will begin from the 5-13 of June 2017, and end between the 5-13 of November, 2018.
