Kenya to find out opponents as CAF announce dates for 2025 AFCON qualifying draw
13th June 2024
48 countries will take part in the qualifiers.
- This will be the first time since 2021 that Kenya will compete in the AFCON qualifiers, having missed the 2023 edition due to a FIFA suspension.
- Then, Kenya was in Group C alongside Burundi, Namibia and Cameroon but only the remaining three teams participated in the qualifiers.
- 48 countries to be divided into 12 groups of four with the winners and runners-up advancing to the 24-team finals.
The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, will learn
who they will face in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after
the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Johannesburg, South
Africa will host the qualification pathway draw on July 4.
This will be the first time since 2021 that Kenya will
compete in the AFCON qualifiers, having missed the 2023 edition due to a FIFA
suspension imposed on the country over government interference.
Then, Kenya was in Group C alongside Burundi, Namibia and Cameroon
but only the remaining three teams participated in the qualifiers.
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Title-holders Ivory Coast and tournament hosts Morocco are
among 48 countries to be divided into 12 groups of four with the winners and
runners-up advancing to the 24-team finals.
Morocco are guaranteed a place as hosts but will take part
to gain competitive match practice. This means just one of the other teams in
their mini-league will qualify.
Double qualifying matchdays are scheduled for September
2-10, October 7-15 and November 11-19 this year.
The nations ranked one to 44 qualified automatically for the
draw and Chad, Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan won play-offs.
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Originally scheduled for June-July 2025, the Cup of Nations
is expected to be played later as the dates clash with the inaugural Club World
Cup in the United States.
"Discussions (regarding dates) are well advanced with
the stakeholders," CAF secretary general Veron Mosengo-Omba has told AFP,
adding that a decision would be announced "soon".
Shifting the tournament to the beginning of 2026 "is in
the air, but there is nothing official", said a CAF source.
While other continental championships are held every four
years, the Cup of Nations is a two-year event as it provides most of the CAF
income through TV rights and advertising.
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Plans to stage it in mid-year to avoid a clash with the
European club season began in 2019 when Egypt played hosts in searing heat.
Fears that torrential seasonal rain could disrupt subsequent
editions in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast led to January-February tournaments.
Stars like prolific Liverpool scorer Mohamed Salah had to leave European clubs in mid-season, and a hamstring injury during the group phase of the 2024 tournament lengthened his absence.