The 24 countries to play at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt will be known this weekend, as the final round of qualifiers are played across the continent, with Nigeria’s dead rubber game today against Seychelles one of the less meaningful of the lot, sports247.ng reports.
Nigeria have already qualified, and Seychelles are out of contention, some other slots have also been taken before the last round of the qualifiers, several others are to be decided and delicately poised with plenty to play for from Friday till Monday.
With Nigeria having already taken Group E’s first ticket to this summer’s show in Egypt, South Africa must beat Libya to qualify, but their hosts need only a draw to pull through.
Alongside Nigeria, 13 others have already qualified for the competition going into the final round of matches with even-time champions Egypt among those who have also sealed their places with a game to spare.
Similarly, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal as well as Guinea, Mali, Uganda, Kenya as well as two newcomers, Madagascar and Mauritania, have also already confirmed their places.
Among the final ten places to be decided, Burundi, Comoros and Lesotho will be chasing history by grabbing places in Africa’s soccer showpiece for the first time, following the footsteps of Madagascar and Mauritania.
However, some of Africa’s top sides like Cameroon, DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Congo have their hearts in their mouth for good results in this weekend’s final round of matches.
The match between Cameroon and Comoros will decide who joins Morocco from Group B, but Malawi are unable to go through.
In Group G, all four teams have got a chance of qualifying, so we must expect fireworks, with DR Congo hosting Liberia while Congo travel to Harare to face Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe lead the group with eight points, one ahead of Liberia while DR Congo and Congo have six and five points respectively.
Group K is also wide open, with three sides battling for the two slots, as Guinea Bissau and Namibia have eight points each with Mozambique on seven points. The Mambas make a trip to Bissau while Namibia travel to Zambia, who cannot qualify, even if they win.
With Mali having already taken Group C’s first ticket, a fierce battle will take place when Burundi welcome Gabon, with the hosts needing just a draw to qualify for the first time. Burundi are second with 9 points while their opponents are two points adrift in third place.
Another tough call is in Group I, where Angola (with nine points) and Burkina Faso (seven) slug it out for last ticket. Palancas Negras travel to Botswana while Burkina Faso host Mauritania, who have qualified.
Also in a similar position in Group D, where Algeria have already secured their place, which leaves Benin (seven points) battling for the other slot with Gambia and Togo, with five points each.
Three teams will also battle for Group L’s remaining slot, as Tanzania, Lesotho and Cape Verde can all still qualify, with Uganda already through … all of which set the stage for four days of cracking action across Africa.
