Following the conclusion of the 34th edition of Total Energies CAF AFCON, the focus has shifted to the next edition – Morocco 2025.
The preliminary draw of Total Energies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 is now scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday 20 February 2024 in Cairo, Egypt.
The draw will be conducted at 14h00 local time 12h00 GMT which is 1pm Nigerian time.
52 teams engaged in the next Africa Cup of Nations. The less 8 ranked teams in the FIFA ranking will play the preliminary round and the remaining 44 teams will be exempted and will play directly in the group stage.
The less 8 ranked teams are distributed into 2 pots according to their ranking with the 4 lowest ranked among the 8 teams – Somalia, Djibouti, Sao Tome & Chad in Pot 1 while
4 highest ranked among the 8 teams – Mauritius, South Sudan, Liberia and Eswatini are in Pot 2.
The preliminary rounds will go down in March which Super Eagles fans will not see the 2023 silver medal winning team in action in Nigeria till June 2024 when the 2026 World Cup qualifiers restart.
The AFCON 2025 qualifiers will take off fully in September 2024 till March 2025 where we will have the qualified team for the show down in June/July 2025. Morocco as host are the first country to qualify for the tournament.
Meanwhile in the window in March, the Super Eagles might not be in action as the proposed friendly with Argentina has been canceled.
The cancelation was due to the fallout from Lionel Messi’s absence from his club, Inter Miami, in Hong Kong. It was reported that Messi was expected to participate in an exhibition match between Inter Miami and a Hong Kong XI but did not feature.
This disappointment extended to plans for Argentina’s upcoming matches against Nigeria in Hangzhou and Cote d’Ivoire in Beijing as fans have now being offered 50% ticket refund by the organisers.
