South Africa will be aiming to qualify for the continental showpiece after missing out on that event in Cameroon last year, with Bafana coach Hugo Broos having already stated that this is a non-negotiable goal for the team.
“The plan is, first, there will be no excuses; we have to qualify for Afcon 2023. No excuses. This will be my responsibility,” Broos stated.
“We are rebuilding a team. We came very close (to advancing to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers).
“One goal killed us (against Ghana). Now, for Afcon 2023, there will be no excuses. I don’t have any excuses anymore.
“We have to focus everything on getting to Afcon next year in June/July, taking place in Cote d’Ivoire. It is also important for the development and experience of the team.”
The Afcon finals will be hosted by Ivory Coast who lifted the converted trophy in 2015 under the tutelage of Herve Renard. Senegal will be the defending champions after defeating Egypt on penalties in the 2021 edition, while Bafana will be desperate to simply make a return to the tournament.
The draw for the Afcon qualifiers will take place on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 in Randburg, Johannesburg at 19:30 SA time.
There are 48 countries that qualified to participate in the second round of the qualifiers, and they have been seeded into four pots.
There will be 12 groups of four teams each, and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals in Ivory Coast.
Pot 1: Senegal (holders), Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Mali, Ivory Coast (hosts), Burkina Faso, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pot 2: South Africa, Cape Verde, Guinea, Gabon, Benin, Uganda, Zambia, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Kenya, Sierra Leone.
Pot 3: Namibia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Libya, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Angola, Comoros.
Pot 4: Tanzania, Central African Republic, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Liberia, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe.
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