CAF announces draw date for AFCON 2025 Qualifiers amid scheduling uncertainty
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on this Thursday 13th, 2024 the date for the draw of the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025.
According to an official statement on their website, the draw will take place on July 4th in Johannesburg, South Africa, the home country of CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
The statement reads, “The journey to the CAF TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 will officially begin on Thursday, July 4, 2024, with the draw for the qualifiers, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The draw will be conducted at the SuperSport studios at 2:30 PM local time (3:30 PM Cairo time, 12:30 PM GMT). A total of 48 nations, including the four winners of the preliminary round (Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, and South Sudan), will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each.”
Uncertainty about the timing of the competition While the date for the draw and the start of the qualifiers in September with the first and second matchdays are now known, the exact period when the tournament will take place remains unclear.
Initially, there were discussions about postponing it to January 2026 due to the summer scheduling of the new expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will feature 48 teams. However, this has been refuted by the CAF.
Recently, media reports suggested an unprecedented December 2025 schedule for the AFCON, but there has been no official confirmation or denial from CAF officials.
With lingering doubts, the draw for the qualifiers might offer some clarity regarding the official dates for the tournament in Morocco, a country capable of hosting it in either summer or winter.
Source: infos-sport
