Afcon 2025 Qualifying Draw Set for July 4th in Johannesburg
Ayize claire
Jun 14, 2024
The qualifying draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on July 4th. The 48 competing teams will be divided into 12 groups of four each, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the finals in Morocco.
The tournament hosts, Morocco, will be automatically included in the draw. However, as they are already guaranteed qualification, only one team from their group will secure a spot in the finals in North Africa.
The exact dates for the 2025 Afcon finals have not yet been announced by the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Initially, Caf had planned to hold the tournament at the end of the European club season, in June-July. However, these dates would coincide with Fifa's inaugural 32-team Club World Cup.
Veron Mosengo-Omba, the Caf secretary general, recently acknowledged the challenges of scheduling, describing it as "a nightmare.
" He suggested that the 2025 finals might be played in early 2026 to ensure the best interests of the players are considered, addressing concerns about the workload of the continent’s elite players.
The qualifiers for the 2025 Afcon will take place in September, October, and November this year. Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, and South Sudan have all progressed through a preliminary round to join the continent's 44 highest-ranked nations in the group draw.
