Three-time champions and five-time runners-up, Nigeria, are expected to know their opponents for the qualification race of the 35th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCONS) finals on Thursday.
Ademola Olajire, Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), stated this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
The draw for the 2025 AFCON will be conducted inside the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It will serve the 48 countries into 12 groups of four teams each; with the top two teams in eleven of the groups qualifying directly to the finals, scheduled for Dec. 21, 2025, to Jan. 18, 2026.
- My performance will bring more youths into gov’t – Interior Minister
- Gunmen kill 6 Benue IDPs’ returning from farms
The 12th group (which has host nation Morocco) will see Morocco qualifying (no matter the position in which they finish) alongside one other team.
The qualifying matches will be played over the FIFA windows of September, October and November this year.
All of Nigeria’s opponents in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race, Benin Republic, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, are all in Thursday’s draw.
ALL THE 48 TEAMS IN THE DRAW:
POT 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, DR Congo, Ghana
POT 2: Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Benin Republic, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar
POT 3: Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Tanzania, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Comoros, Togo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Central African Republic
POT 4: Niger Republic, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, The Gambia, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Sudan, Chad.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
