Football

Somalia and Djibouti draw tough opponents in AFCON 2025 preliminary round

The Somalia U17 National team © Courtesy

By Rama Mohammed | Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Somalia will face off with Eswatini while Djibouti will be up against Liberia in the AFCON 2025 preliminary round of qualifiers

In a significant step towards the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualification process, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) conducted the preliminary draw at its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

Somalia has been paired with Eswatini, while Djibouti will contend against Liberia. Sao Tome, another CECAFA representative, is set to face South Sudan, while West African side Chad will take on Mauritius in the final match of the preliminary round.

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Scheduled to be played on a home and away basis, the matches are slated to occur during the FIFA Window of March 18-26, 2024. The four victors from the preliminary round will advance to join the 44 exempted teams for the subsequent group stage.

The draw

Somalia vs Eswatini

Sao Tome vs South Sudan

Chad vs Mauritius

Djibouti vs Liberia

In the meantime, it has been confirmed AFCON 2025 Morocco will be played between July and August, a CAF official has confirmed to AFP.

Earlier this month CAF president Patrice Motsepe refused to confirm the dates of the next Africa Cup of Nations, with organisers left with little time to stage a qualifying competition were it to be held in January and February.

However, playing it in June and July next year would mean a clash with FIFA's expanded Club World Cup which is due to take place in North America.

On Monday a member of the competitions committee told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that there was "an agreement in principle between CAF and the Moroccan Football Federation for the AFCON to be held during the summer, more precisely in July and August" 2025.

"This agreement was found with the support of FIFA after talks that began several months ago and which intensified during the last edition which finished this month in Ivory Coast," the source added.

"The dates currently proposed are July 20-August 16 or 17, 2025."

The last two Africa Cup of Nations were both pushed back from the original dates. The 2021 tournament, hosted by Cameroon, was played in January and February of 2022. The most recent edition had initially been planned for June and July last year but was rescheduled over weather concerns.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse