2021 AFCON Draws
Aida Ballroom, Cairo
Thursday, 18-07-2019
The draws for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be held next week on Thursday, July 18th, in Cairo, Egypt.
This was confirmed by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) who will on the same day hold its 32nd General Assembly.
The two events will take place in the lavish Aida Ballroom at the Marriott Hotel.
Cameroon who were slated to host the 2019 edition but were deemed ‘not ready’, will host the 33rd AFCON finals.
On 30 November 2018, CAF stripped Cameroon from hosting the 2019 AFCON.
However, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad said Cameroon accepted to host the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Consequently, Ivory Coast, original hosts of 2021, would host the 2023 AFCON, and Guinea, original hosts of 2023, would host the 2025 AFCON.
Fifty-two (52) nations including Uganda will take part in the qualifiers which will feature a preliminary round and then group stage.
They have been seeded in five pots according to their respective FIFA Rankings with Uganda in pot two alongside the likes of Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde and Kenya.
The first three pots each have 12 teams with the fourth containing 8 while the other has 9.
The pots
Pot 1:
-Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, DR Congo, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, and Algeria.
Pot 2:
-Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Gabon, Congo, Mauritania, Niger, Kenya and Libya.
Pot 3:
The countries in pot three are; Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Angola, Malawi, Togo, Sudan and Tanzania.
Pot 4:
Burundi, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Comoros, Ethiopia.
Pot 5:
Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, South Sudan, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Djibouti.
How the draw will be conducted:
There will be 12 groups of four teams each. The groups will be named from A to L.
The first two teams in each group at the end of the qualifying round will make it for the final tournament.
It is highly anticipated that the 24 team finals’ format which was first witnessed in Egypt 2019, will be maintained for Cameroon 2021.
Cameroon will be hosting the competition, for the first time since 1972.
