On April 19, 2022, the African Football Confederation held at the premises of the Super Sport television channel in Johannesburg, South Africa, the draw of the groups of the last round of the 2023 CAN Côte d'Ivoire playoffs.
The ceremony was coordinated by Samson Adamu, CAF Director of Competitions. The Nigerian leader was joined by South African Lucas Radebe and Ivorian Salomon Kalou, two former glories of African football.
At the end of the draw, Cameroon found itself in Group C with Kenya, Namibia and Burundi. The national selections of these four countries will play round-trip matches in June and September 2022 as well as in March 2023. At the finish, only the first two in the standings will qualify for the final phase scheduled in Côte d'Ivoire in June 2023.
A total of 48 countries were divided into 12 groups. As recently in Cameroon, the final phase of the 34th edition of the CAN will be played with 24 countries.
« Côte d'Ivoire, the host country, also participated in the draw, although it is automatically qualified. Therefore, only one other team in his group will get his ticket to the final tournament. Kenya and Zimbabwe, countries suspended by FIFA from all football-related activities, are also included in the draw despite temporary bans. However, if the suspension is not lifted two weeks before their first day of playoffs, both associations will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition. Their groups will then be made up of three teams, and the first and second teams will qualify for the final tournament. » said the CAF.
Here is the composition of the groups after the draw.
Group A : Nigeria – Sierra Leone – Guinea Bissau – Sao Tome
Group B : Burkina Faso – Cape Verde – Togo – Eswatini
Group C : Cameroon – Kenya – Namibia – Burundi
Group D : Egypt – Guinea – Malawi – Ethiopia
Group E : Ghana – Madagascar – Angola – Central African Republic
Group F : Algeria – Uganda – Niger – Tanzania
Group G : Mali – Congo – Gambia – South Sudan
Group H : Côte d’Ivoire – Zambia – Comoros – Lesotho
Group I : RD Congo – Gabon – Mauritania – Sudan
Group J: Tunisia – Equatorial Guinea – Libya – Botswana
Group K: Morocco – South Africa – Zimbabwe – Liberia
Group L : Sénégal – Benin – Mozambique – Rwanda
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