CAIRO, Egypt -Zimbabwe were handed a tough draw for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Thursday after being pooled with 2019 champions Algeria, former champions Zambia and Botswana in Group H.
Cameroon will host the next finals.
Former Nigerian star Nwankwo Kanu and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o conducted the draw in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday evening on the sidelines of the CAF General Assembly.
The group phase of the qualifiers will be preceded by a preliminary round involving eight teams determined by the last FIFA rankings. After that, the winners of the four matches will head into the group phase.
The 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each and the top two sides from each group will earn a ticket to the 2021 showpiece in Cameroon.
Cameroon, who are in Group F, qualify automatically as hosts. Except in Group F, the top two teams in each group qualify for the finals. In Group F, the top team excluding Cameroon will also qualify.
The play-off games will be in October and the group stage starts in November. The last round of qualifiers are set for November 2020.
Group A: Mali, Guinea, Namibia, winner playoff Liberia v Chad
Group B: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malawi, winner playoff South Sudan v Seychelles
Group C: Ghana, South Africa, Sudan, winner playoff Mauritius v Sao Tome e Principe
Group D: DR Congo, Gabon, Angola, winner playoff Djibouti v The Gambia
Group E: Morocco, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Burundi
Group F: Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, Rwanda
Group G: Egypt, Kenya, Togo, Comoros Islands
Group H: Algeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana
Group I: Senegal, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini
Group J: Tunisia, Libya, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea
Group K: Ivory Coast, Niger, Madagascar, Ethiopia
Group L: Nigeria, Benin, Sierra Leone, Lesotho
