By Duncan Mlanjira
Soon after the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals currently in the first knockout stages in Cameroun, the qualifying matches for the 34th edition Cote d’Ivoire 2023 will kick off in March — first with a preliminary round involving 12 least ranked teams.
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Ranked at 129th in the world and 33 in Africa as of December 2021, Malawi were amongst teams that were seeded from the preliminary round draw held by Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Friday.
Teams involved were Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles — from the Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA); Gambia, South Sudan, Chad, Sao Tome & Principe, Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea.
Level 1 of the draw, which is for the highest of the 12 least ranked teams had four from the COSAFA — Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and Mauritius — alongside Gambia and South Sudan.
Level 2 had Chad, Sao Tome & ePrincipe, Djibouti, Somalia Eritrea and COSAFA side Seychelles.
The 34th edition draw was assisted by former Cameroun captain Rigobert Song (right)
The six highest ranked teams in Level 1 was drawn against the six least ranked teams in Level 2 with the first leg set to be played at home of the lower ranked teams.
The preliminary round fixtures, to be played on March 21 & 29, 2022, are as follows:
* Eritrea v Botswana
* Sao Tome and Principe v Mauritius
* Djibouti v South Sudan
* Seychelles v Lesotho
* Somalia v Eswatini
* Chad v Gambia
The six aggregate winners will join the 42 highest ranked teams into the group stage of the qualifiers.
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The rest of the COSAFA will now try to make amends to qualify for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 as only three qualified for 2021 Cameroun finals — the Flames, Zimbabwe and Comoros.
The Flames and Zimbabwe were drawn in same Group B alongside Guinea and Senegal but the Warriors are out of contention leaving Malawi with Comoros going through to the Round of 16 as best third-placed sides.
Comoros were voted as Comoros were voted as Surprise Team of the tournament for qualifying into their first knockout stages in their debut appearance.
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The Flames date Morocco in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, January 25 while the Comoros are up against hosts Cameroun on Monday, January 24.
Last teams standing for the 2021 AFCON include the hosts Cameroun, Burkina Faso and Cape Verde (from Group A); Senegal, Guinea, Malawi (B); Morocco, Gabon and Comoros (C); Nigeria and AFCON seven-time champions Egypt (D); reigning African champions Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire (E) with Gambia, Mali and Tunisia in Group F.
Meanwhile, Confederation of African Football (CAF) also held the draw for the African contenders to represent the continent in the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022™ involving 10 teams to identify 5 — whose fixtures are:
* Egypt v Senegal
* Cameroun v Algeria
* Ghana v Nigeria
* DR Congo v Morocco
* Mali v Tunisia
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