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2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the 34th edition of the international men's football championship of Africa. A total of 24 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Ivory Coast, who qualified automatically as hosts.

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details
Dates23 March 2022 – 17 October 2023
Teams52 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played142
Goals scored348 (2.45 per match)
Top scorer(s)Nigeria Victor Osimhen
(10 goals)
← 2021
2025 →

Entrants

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All 54 CAF member associations entered the competition. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Ranking from 23 December 2021 with teams ranked 1st to 42nd receiving a bye to the qualifying group stage, while the teams ranked 43rd to 54th having to participate in the preliminary round.[1]

The preliminary round draw took place on 21 January 2022, 16:30 WAT (UTC+1), in Douala, Cameroon.[2]

From the December 2021 FIFA World Rankings[3]
Bye to group stage Participating in preliminary round
  1.   Senegal (20)
  2.   Morocco (28)
  3.   Algeria (29)
  4.   Tunisia (30)
  5.   Nigeria (36)
  6.   Egypt (45)
  7.   Cameroon (50)
  8.   Ghana (52)
  9.   Mali (53)
  10.   Ivory Coast (56)
  11.   Burkina Faso (60)
  12.   DR Congo (64)
  13.   South Africa (68)
  14.   Cape Verde (73)
  15.   Guinea (81)
  16.   Uganda (82)
  17.   Benin (83)
  18.   Zambia (88)
  19.   Gabon (89)
  20.   Congo (97)
  21.   Madagascar (101)
  22.   Kenya (102)
  23.   Mauritania (103)
  24.   Guinea-Bissau (106)
  25.   Sierra Leone (108)
  26.   Namibia (112)
  27.   Niger (113)
  28.   Equatorial Guinea (114)
  29.   Libya (117)
  30.   Mozambique (118)
  31.   Zimbabwe (121)
  32.   Togo (124)
  33.   Sudan (125)
  34.   Angola (126)
  35.   Malawi (129)
  36.   Central African Republic (130)
  37.   Tanzania (131)
  38.   Comoros (132)
  39.   Rwanda (135)
  40.   Ethiopia (137)
  41.   Burundi (140)
  42.   Liberia (144)
  1.   Lesotho (145)
  2.   Eswatini (146)
  3.   Botswana (148)
  4.   Gambia (150)
  5.   South Sudan (167)
  6.   Mauritius (172)
  7.   Chad (180)
  8.   São Tomé and Príncipe (189)
  9.   Djibouti (192)
  10.   Somalia (194)
  11.   Seychelles (197)
  12.   Eritrea (202)

Schedule

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The schedule of the qualifying tournament was as follows.

Round Matchday Dates Matches
Preliminary round First leg 23–24 March 2022 Team 1 vs. Team 2
Second leg 27–29 March 2022 Team 2 vs. Team 1
Group stage Matchday 1 1–13 June 2022 Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4
Matchday 2 Team 2 vs. Team 3, Team 4 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3 22–24 March 2023 Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 4
Matchday 4 26–29 March 2023 Team 3 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 2
Matchday 5 14–20 June 2023 Team 2 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6 6–12 September 2023, 17 October 2023 Team 3 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 4

Preliminary round

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification preliminary round

The twelve lowest-ranked teams were drawn into six ties to be played in home-and-away two-legged format.[4] The six winners advanced to the group stage to join the 42 teams which entered directly.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Eritrea   awd.   Botswana Canc. Canc.
São Tomé and Príncipe   4–3   Mauritius 1–0 3–3
Djibouti   2–5   South Sudan 2–4 0–1
Seychelles   1–3   Lesotho 0–0 1–3
Somalia   1–5   Eswatini 0–3 1–2
Chad   2–3   Gambia 0–1 2–2

Group stage

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Draw

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The group stage draw took place on 19 April 2022 at 19:30 SAST (UTC+2) at SuperSport Broadcasting Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa.[5][6] The 48 national teams involved were divided into twelve groups of four each (from Group A to Group L), which consisted of the 42 teams which entered directly, in addition to the six winners of the preliminary round. The 48 national teams had previously been seeded into four pots of twelve each based on the March 2022 FIFA World Rankings (shown in parentheses).[7] Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

  Senegal (20)
  Morocco (24)
  Nigeria (30)
  Egypt (32)
  Tunisia (35)
  Cameroon (37)
  Algeria (44)
  Mali (52)
  Ivory Coast (53)
  Burkina Faso (56)
  Ghana (60)
  DR Congo (67)

  South Africa (69)
  Cape Verde (71)
  Guinea (80)
  Gabon (81)
  Benin (84)
  Uganda (86)
  Zambia (87)
  Congo (98)
  Equatorial Guinea (99)
  Madagascar (102)
  Kenya (104)
  Sierra Leone (108)

  Namibia (112)
  Mauritania (113)
  Guinea-Bissau (115)
  Niger (116)
  Libya (117)
  Mozambique (119)
  Malawi (120)
  Togo (121)
  Zimbabwe (122)
  Gambia (123)
  Angola (126)
  Comoros (128)

  Tanzania (130)
  Central African Republic (131)
  Sudan (132)
  Rwanda (136)
  Burundi (139)
  Ethiopia (140)
  Eswatini (143)
  Lesotho (145)
  Botswana (148)
  Liberia (149)
  South Sudan (161)
  São Tomé and Príncipe (189)

The draw started with pot 4 and ended with pot 1; each team drawn was assigned into the first available group alphabetically (A–L) and within the group was placed in the position that corresponded to it according to its pot (i.e. position 1 for teams from pot 1, position 2 for teams from pot 2, position 3 for teams from pot 3 and position 4 for teams from pot 4).[6]

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts, Ivory Coast, participated in the qualifiers despite the team being guaranteed a spot in the finals, which meant only the best ranked team within their group apart from Ivory Coast qualified for the finals. The Ivory Coast matches and results counted in determining the qualification of the other teams from their group.[6]

Kenya and Zimbabwe were included in the draw despite being temporarily suspended by FIFA from all international football activities. In order to avoid a potential situation where one group contained only two valid teams, the aforementioned sides could thus not be drawn in the same group.[6] On 23 May 2022, CAF announced that both teams had been disqualified from the qualifiers as a result of their suspensions not being lifted by FIFA.[8] Thus, their groups were composed of only three teams, with the group winners and runners-up qualifying to the finals.

The draw ceremony was conducted by the CAF Director of Competitions Samson Adamu, with assistance by former South Africa defender Lucas Radebe and former Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou.[9]

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 14):

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above was reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Drawing of lots

Group A

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group A
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Nigeria 6 5 0 1 22 4 +18 15 Final tournament — 0–1 2–1 6–0
2   Guinea-Bissau 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 13 0–1 — 2–1 5–1
3   Sierra Leone 6 1 2 3 10 11 −1 5 2–3 2–2 — 2–2
4   São Tomé and Príncipe 6 0 1 5 3 26 −23 1 0–10 0–1 0–2 —
Source: CAF

Group B

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group B
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Burkina Faso 6 3 2 1 8 5 +3 11 Final tournament — 2–0 1–0 0–0
2   Cape Verde 6 3 1 2 8 6 +2 10 3–1 — 2–0 0–0
3   Togo 6 2 2 2 8 8 0 8 1–1 3–2 — 2–2
4   Eswatini 6 0 3 3 3 8 −5 3 1–3 0–1 0–2 —
Source: CAF

Group C

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group C
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Cameroon 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7 Final tournament — 1–1 3–0 Canc.
2   Namibia 4 1 2 1 6 6 0 5 2–1 — 1–1 Canc.
3   Burundi 4 1 1 2 4 7 −3 4 0–1 3–2 — Canc.
4   Kenya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified Canc. Canc. Canc. —
Source: CAF

Group D

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group D
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Egypt 6 5 0 1 10 3 +7 15 Final tournament — 1–0 2–0 1–0
2   Guinea 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10 1–2 — 1–0 2–0
3   Malawi 6 1 2 3 4 10 −6 5 0–4 2–2 — 2–1
4   Ethiopia 6 1 1 4 5 8 −3 4 2–0 2–3 0–0 —
Source: CAF

Group E

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group E
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Ghana 6 3 3 0 8 3 +5 12 Final tournament — 1–0 2–1 3–0
2   Angola 6 2 3 1 6 5 +1 9 1–1 — 2–1 0–0
3   Central African Republic 6 2 1 3 9 7 +2 7 1–1 1–2 — 2–0
4   Madagascar 6 0 3 3 1 9 −8 3 0–0 1–1 0–3 —
Source: CAF

Group F

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group F
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Algeria 6 5 1 0 9 2 +7 16 Final tournament — 0–0 2–0 2–1
2   Tanzania 6 2 2 2 3 4 −1 8 0–2 — 0–1 1–0
3   Uganda 6 2 1 3 5 6 −1 7 1–2 0–1 — 1–1
4   Niger 6 0 2 4 3 8 −5 2 0–1 1–1 0–2 —
Source: CAF

Group G

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group G
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Mali 6 5 0 1 15 2 +13 15 Final tournament — 2–0 4–0 4–0
2   Gambia 6 3 1 2 7 7 0 10 1–0 — 2–2 1–0
3   Congo 6 2 1 3 5 10 −5 7 0–2 1–0 — 1–2
4   South Sudan 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3 1–3 2–3 0–1 —
Source: CAF

Group H

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group H
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Zambia 6 4 1 1 12 6 +6 13[a] Final tournament — 3–0 2–1 3–1
2   Ivory Coast 6 4 1 1 9 5 +4 13[a] 3–1 — 3–1 1–0
3   Comoros 6 2 1 3 6 8 −2 7 1–1 0–2 — 2–0
4   Lesotho 6 0 1 5 1 9 −8 1 0–2 0–0 0–1 —
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head goal difference: Zambia 1, Ivory Coast –1.

Group I

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group I
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   DR Congo 6 4 0 2 11 4 +7 12 Final tournament — 3–1 0–1 2–0
2   Mauritania 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10 0–3[a] — 2–1 3–0
3   Gabon 6 2 1 3 3 5 −2 7 0–2 0–0 — 1–0
4   Sudan 6 2 0 4 3 10 −7 6 2–1 0–3 1–0 —
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. ^ CAF awarded DR Congo a 3–0 win as a result of Mauritania fielding an ineligible player, Khadim Diaw, after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw. Diaw failed to follow the proper procedure for switching national teams after previously representing Senegal during the 2020 African Nations Championship qualification.[10]

Group J

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group J
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Tunisia 6 4 1 1 11 1 +10 13 Final tournament — 4–0 3–0 3–0
2   Equatorial Guinea 6 4 1 1 9 7 +2 13 1–0 — 2–0 2–0
3   Botswana 6 1 1 4 3 9 −6 4 0–0 2–3 — 1–0
4   Libya 6 1 1 4 2 8 −6 4 0–1 1–1 1–0 —
Source: CAF

Group K

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group K
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Morocco 4 3 0 1 8 3 +5 9 Final tournament — 2–1 3–0 Canc.
2   South Africa 4 2 1 1 7 6 +1 7 2–1 — 2–2 Canc.
3   Liberia 4 0 1 3 3 9 −6 1 0–2 1–2 — Canc.
4   Zimbabwe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified Canc. Canc. Canc. —
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group L

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Main article: 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group L
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Senegal 6 4 2 0 12 4 +8 14 Final tournament — 5–1 3–1 1–1
2   Mozambique 6 3 1 2 8 9 −1 10 0–1 — 3–2 1–1
3   Benin 6 1 2 3 8 9 −1 5 1–1 0–1 — 1–1
4   Rwanda 6 0 3 3 3 9 −6 3 0–1 0–2 0–3[a] —
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. ^ CAF awarded Benin a 3–0 win as a result of Rwanda fielding an ineligible player, Kevin Muhire, after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw. Muhire failed to serve a one-game ban after receiving two yellow cards in the qualifying competition.[11]

Goalscorers

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There were 348 goals scored in 142 matches, for an average of 2.45 goals per match.

10 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Qualified teams

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The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Africa Cup of Nations1
  Ivory Coast Hosts / Group H runners-up 30 January 2019 24 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Morocco Group K winners 24 March 2023 18 (1972, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Algeria Group F winners 27 March 2023 19 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  South Africa Group K runners-up 28 March 2023 10 (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2019)
  Senegal Group L winners 28 March 2023 16 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Burkina Faso Group B winners 28 March 2023 12 (1978, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021)
  Tunisia Group J winners 28 March 2023 20 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Egypt Group D winners 14 June 2023 25 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Zambia Group H winners 17 June 2023 17 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015)
  Equatorial Guinea Group J runners-up 17 June 2023 3 (2012, 2015, 2021)
  Nigeria Group A winners 18 June 2023 19 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2019, 2021)
  Guinea-Bissau Group A runners-up 18 June 2023 3 (2017, 2019, 2021)
  Cape Verde Group B runners-up 18 June 2023 3 (2013, 2015, 2021)
  Mali Group G winners 18 June 2023 12 (1972, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Guinea Group D runners-up 20 June 2023 13 (1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021)
  Ghana Group E winners 7 September 2023 23 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Angola Group E runners-up 7 September 2023 8 (1996, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2019)
  Tanzania Group F runners-up 7 September 2023 2 (1980, 2019)
  Mozambique Group L runners-up 9 September 2023 4 (1986, 1996, 1998, 2010)
  DR Congo Group I winners 9 September 2023 19 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
  Mauritania Group I runners-up 9 September 2023 2 (2019, 2021)
  Gambia Group G runners-up 10 September 2023 1 (2021)
  Cameroon Group C winners 12 September 2023 20 (1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
  Namibia Group C runners-up 12 September 2023 3 (1998, 2008, 2019)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italics indicates hosts for that year.

References

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  1. ^ "Road to Cote d'Ivoire 2023 kicks off with Preliminary Draw conducted". CAFonline.com. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Draw for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Men's Ranking". FIFA.com. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Road to Cote d'Ivoire 2023 kicks off with Preliminary Draw conducted". CAFOnline.com. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. ^ "CAF announces AFCON23, Women's AFCON and CHAN draw dates" (Press release). Confederation of African Football. 8 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "Tuesday night's TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d'Ivoire group stages draw procedure explained". Confederation of African Football. 18 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Men's Ranking". FIFA. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  8. ^ "CAF Media Statement on Zimbabwe and Kenya AFCON 2023 qualifiers". CAFonline.com (Press release). 23 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Radebe, Kalou named 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying Draw Assistants". CAFOnline.com. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  10. ^ "CAN 2023 (Q): les Léopards battent la Mauritanie par forfait et passent premiers du groupe" [CAN 2023 (Q): the Leopards beat Mauritania by default and go first in the group]. Foot RDC (in French). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  11. ^ "AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Rwanda loses after Benin's appeal". Sport News Africa. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
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