By Amaechi Agbo

Africa’s football umpire, the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF have announced that the draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON will hold on Friday, January 20, 2022.

The 34th edition of the continent’s biennial football tournament will hold in West African country, Cote D’Ivoire

“The TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Preliminary Round draw will be conducted on Friday, 21 January 2022 at 16h00 (15h00 GMT, 17h00 CAT) in Doual,” CAF announced on Monday.

The preliminary round will see the 12 least ranked teams divided into two levels. The six highest ranked teams will play against the six least ranked teams in the first preliminary round.

The 1st leg will be played at home of the lower ranked teams

The six aggregate winners will join the 42 highest ranked teams into the Group Stage of the qualifiers.

According to FIFA ranking released in December, the first preliminary round will see Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Gambia, South Sudan, Mauritius in pot 1.

Pot two has Chad, Sao Tome & Principe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, Eritrea.

Teams in pot 1 will be paired to okay against teams in pot 2.

The Pre Qualification round of matches on home and away basis will be played between 21 and 29th of March 2022.

The 2023 AFCON is slated to hold between June and July next year.