2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details | |
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Dates | 23 March 2022 – 17 October 2023 |
Teams | 52 (from 1 confederation) |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 142 |
Goals scored | 348 (2.45 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | ![]() (10 goals) |
Qualification for championships (CAF) |
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The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of 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.
Entrants
[edit]All 54 CAF member associations entered to the competition. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Ranking from 23 December 2021 with teams ranked 1st to 42nd received a bye to the qualifying group stage, while the teams ranked 43rd to 54th had 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]
Bye to group stage | Participating in preliminary round |
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Schedule
[edit]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
[edit]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. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eritrea ![]() |
awd. | ![]() |
Canc. | Canc. |
São Tomé and Príncipe ![]() |
4–3 | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–3 |
Djibouti ![]() |
2–5 | ![]() |
2–4 | 0–1 |
Seychelles ![]() |
1–3 | ![]() |
0–0 | 1–3 |
Somalia ![]() |
1–5 | ![]() |
0–3 | 1–2 |
Chad ![]() |
2–3 | ![]() |
0–1 | 2–2 |
Group stage
[edit]Draw
[edit]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 |
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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):
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- 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;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Away goals scored in all group matches;
- Drawing of lots
Group A
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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1 | ![]() |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 6–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 13 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 5–1 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 5 | 2–3 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 26 | −23 | 1 | 0–10 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — |
Group B
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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1 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 11 | Final tournament | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 10 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 2–2 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — |
Group C
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 | Final tournament | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | Canc. | |
2 | ![]() |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | Canc. | ||
3 | ![]() |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | 0–1 | 3–2 | — | Canc. | ||
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |
Group D
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 10 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 5 | 0–4 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 4 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | — |
Group E
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 12 | Final tournament | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 9 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 7 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — |
Group F
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 16 | Final tournament | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 8 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — |
Group G
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 15 | Final tournament | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 7 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — |
Group H
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 13[a] | Final tournament | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 13[a] | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 7 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — |
Notes:
Group I
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 12 | Final tournament | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 10 | 0–3[a] | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 7 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 6 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — |
Notes:
- ^ 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
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 13 | Final tournament | — | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 13 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 4 | 0–0 | 2–3 | — | 1–0 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |
Group K
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 | Final tournament | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | Canc. | |
2 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | Canc. | ||
3 | ![]() |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | Canc. | ||
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |
Group L
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 14 | Final tournament | — | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
2 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 10 | 0–1 | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | ||
3 | ![]() |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 5 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | ||
4 | ![]() |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3[a] | — |
Notes:
- ^ 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
[edit]There were 319 goals scored in 132 matches, for an average of 2.42 goals per match.
10 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
Gelson Dala
Jodel Dossou
Steve Mounié
Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana
Vincent Aboubakar
Youssouf M'Changama
Benjaloud Youssouf
Cédric Bakambu
Fiston Mayele
Omar Marmoush
Mostafa Mohamed
Mohamed Salah
Federico Bikoro
Emilio Nsue
Sabelo Ndzinisa
Ablie Jallow
Osman Bukari
Naby Keïta
Christian Kouamé
Gabadinho Mhango
Mohamed Camara
Nene Dorgeles
Ibrahima Koné
El Bilal Touré
Hemeya Tanjy
Ayoub El Kaabi
Youssef En-Nesyri
Geny Catamo
Clésio
Daniel Sosah
Ademola Lookman
Terem Moffi
Moses Simon
Luís Leal
Boulaye Dia
Mustapha Bundu
Augustus Kargbo
Zakhele Lepasa
Saimon Msuva
Kodjo Laba
Euloge Placca
Haythem Jouini
Lameck Banda
Kings Kangwa
1 goal
Youcef Belaïli
Ramy Bensebaini
Baghdad Bounedjah
Riyad Mahrez
Aïssa Mandi
Kialonda Gaspar
Lucas João
Felício Milson
M'Bala Nzola
Abdoul Rachid Moumini
Junior Olaitan
Mbatshi Elias
Gape Mohutsiwa
Kabelo Seakanyeng
Stephane Aziz Ki
Hassane Bandé
Issoufou Dayo
Abdoul Tapsoba
Abedi Bigirimana
Hussein Shabani
Olivier Kemen
Bryan Mbeumo
Karl Toko Ekambi
Christopher Wooh
Bebé
Gilson Benchimol
Clé
João Paulo Fernandes
Ryan Mendes
Jamiro Monteiro
Kevin Pina
Júlio Tavares
Geoffrey Kondogbia
Karl Namnganda
Isaac Ngoma
Samuel Nlend
El Fardou Ben Nabouhane
Ibroihim Djoudja
Thievy Bifouma
Gabriel Charpentier
Silvère Ganvoula
Antoine Makoumbou
Gaius Makouta
Jonathan Bolingi
Théo Bongonda
Gaël Kakuta
Arthur Masuaku
Aaron Tshibola
Mostafa Fathi
Tarek Hamed
Mahmoud Hassan Trézéguet
Ahmed Sayed Zizo
Saúl Coco
José Elo
Iban Salvador
Siboniso Ngwenya
Shimelis Bekele
Dawa Hotessa
Kitika Jemma
Kenean Markneh
Abubeker Nassir
Shavy Babicka
Didier Ndong
Lloyd Palun
Muhammed Badamosi
Hamza Barry
Omar Colley
Yankuba Minteh
Felix Afena-Gyan
Ernest Nuamah
Antoine Semenyo
Mohamed Bayo
Aguibou Camara
Morgan Guilavogui
Serhou Guirassy
François Kamano
Ilaix Moriba
Saïdou Sow
Mama Baldé
Zidane Banjaqui
Franculino Djú
Nito Gomes
Alfa Semedo
Serge Aurier
Sébastien Haller
Franck Kessié
Jean-Philippe Krasso
Tshwarelo Bereng
William Jebor
Mohammed Sangare
Tonia Tisdell
Saleh Al Taher
Husain Taqtaq
Njiva Rakotoharimalala
Lawrence Chaziya
Robert Saizi
Kalifa Coulibaly
Aliou Dieng
Sékou Koïta
Adama Malouda Traoré
Aly Abeid
Nouh Mohamed El Abd
Hassan Houbeib
Abdallahi Mahmoud
Mouhamed Soueid
Amine Adli
Fayçal Fajr
Amine Harit
Hakim Ziyech
Guima
Stanley Ratifo
Gildo Vilanculos
Witi
Absalom Iimbondi
Wendell Rudath
Amadou Sabo
Taiwo Awoniyi
Samuel Chukwueze
Emmanuel Dennis
Peter Etebo
Kelechi Iheanacho
Alex Iwobi
Thierry Manzi
Gilbert Mugisha
Blaise Nishimwe
Olivier Niyonzima
Eba Viegas
Mamadou Lamine Camara
Habib Diallo
Iliman Ndiaye
Youssouf Sabaly
Abdoulaye Seck
Amadou Bakayoko
Musa Noah Kamara
Abu Komeh
Alhassan Koroma
Jonathan Morsay
Abubakarr Samura
Mihlali Mayambela
Peter Chol
Chol Daniel
Tito Okello
Valentino Yuel
Mohamed Abdelrahman
Waleed Al-Shoala
Muhamed Kome
George Mpole
Abdou Ouattara
Seifeddine Jaziri
Ali Maâloul
Naïm Sliti
Fahad Bayo
Milton Karisa
Aziz Kayondo
Rogers Mato
Joseph Ochaya
Enock Mwepu
Fashion Sakala
1 own goal
Lebogang Ditsele (against Equatorial Guinea)
Alford Velaphi (against Tunisia)
Serge Aurier (against Zambia)
Mohammed Al Tuhami (against Equatorial Guinea)
Boubakar Kouyaté (against South Sudan)
Munir Mohamedi (against South Africa)
Rahim Alhassane (against Algeria)
Rehan Angier (against Gambia)
Qualified teams
[edit]The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italics indicates hosts for that year.
References
[edit]- ^ "Road to Cote d'Ivoire 2023 kicks off with Preliminary Draw conducted". CAFonline.com. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Draw for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "Men's Ranking". FIFA.com. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Road to Cote d'Ivoire 2023 kicks off with Preliminary Draw conducted". CAFOnline.com. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "CAF announces AFCON23, Women's AFCON and CHAN draw dates" (Press release). Confederation of African Football. 8 April 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Men's Ranking". FIFA. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "CAF Media Statement on Zimbabwe and Kenya AFCON 2023 qualifiers". CAFonline.com (Press release). 23 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
- ^ "Radebe, Kalou named 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying Draw Assistants". CAFOnline.com. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Rwanda loses after Benin's appeal". Sport News Africa. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.