AFCON 2023 draw: Nigeria to play Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau in Group A

The draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying groups, made in Johannesburg on Tuesday is as follows:

Group A: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome e Principe or Mauritius

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 Brazzaville, Gambia, South Sudan

Group H: Ivory Coast (hosts), Zambia, Comoros, Lesotho

Group I: Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mauritania, Sudan

Group J: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Botswana

Group K: Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Liberia

Group L: Senegal (holders), Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda

Dates

May 30-June 14: Match days 1, 2

Sept 19-27: Match days 3, 4

March 20-28, 2023: Match days 5, 6

Winners and runners-up in each group except H qualify for 24-team finals in the Ivory Coast during June and July 2023

Ivory Coast automatically qualify from Group H as tournament hosts, along with the highest placed of the other three teams

Kenya and Zimbabwe are suspended by FIFA due to government interference in the running of the sport and they will be allowed to compete only if the bans are lifted by mid May

Mauritius have protested a 4-3 aggregate loss to Sao Tome e Principe in the preliminary round and the outcome of a disciplinary hearing will decide which nation competes in Group A. (The PUNCH)