Afcon U23 Qualifiers: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and the continent learn path to Morocco after Caf draw

African nations have learned their path to the Afcon U23 finals that are set to be held in Morocco next year.

Caf conducted the draw on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, and the Super Eagles, the Black Stars, and Bafana Bafana are expected to start their qualification journey in the second round and will learn their exact opponents after the conclusion of the initial round.

In the first round, teams from one region will mostly face off, with the exception of a few that will have to face opponents from different regions.

In the Cecafa region, Tanzania have been scheduled to play South Sudan, and Rwanda will play Libya from the Unaf region, while Angola and Namibia, both Cosafa nations, have been pitted against one another.

The dates for the first leg and second leg matches of the first round will be September 19–27, 2022, and the qualification dates for the second round will be October 21–23 for the first leg and October 28–30, 2022 for the second leg matches.

The third-round matches, both first and second legs, have been scheduled to be played between March 20 and March 28, 2023.

Full Caf Draw:

First Round

1 & 2: Guinea-Bissau vs Niger

3 & 4: Tanzania vs South Sudan

5 & 6: Eswatini vs Botswana

7 & 8: Mauritania vs Togo

9 & 10: Ethiopia vs DR Congo

11 & 12: Mozambique vs Mauritius

13 & 14: Burkina Faso vs The Gambia

15 & 16: Libya vs Rwanda

17 & 18: Madagascar vs Seychelles

19 & 20: Angola vs Namibia

Second Round

21 & 22: Winner 1 & 2 / Côte d’Ivoire

23 & 24: Sudan vs Benin

25 & 26: Winner 3 & 4 vs Nigeria

27 & 28: Guinea vs Uganda

29 & 30: Winner 5 & 6 vs Egypt

31 & 32: Sierra Leone vs Zambia

33 & 34: Winner 7 & 8 vs South Africa

35 & 36: Congo vs Tunisia

37 & 38: Winner 9 & 10 vs Algeria

39 & 40: Winner 11 & 12 vs Ghana

41 & 42: Winner 13 & 14 vs Senegal

43 & 44: Winner 15 & 16 vs Mali

45 & 46: Winner 17 & 18 vs Gabon

47 & 48: Winner 19 & 20 vs Cameroon

Third Round

49 & 50: Winner 21/22 vs winner 23/24

51 & 52: Winner 25/26 vs winner 27/28

53 & 54: Winner 29/30 vs winner 31/32

55 & 56: Winner 33/34 vs winner 35/36

57 & 58: Winner 37/38 vs winner 39/40

59 & 60: Winner 41/42 vs winner 43/44

61 & 62: Winner 45/46 vs winner 47/48