By Ntokozo Magongo
MBABANE – The trio of Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique stand of the national teams, Sihlangu way in the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers.
Sihlangu was drawn in Group I of the qualifiers with the only top two countries making it to the main tournament to be held in Morocco, 2025/ 2026. The draw was conducted on Thursday afternoon in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The qualifiers will be played on the next three international windows in September, October and November this year in quick-fire campaign after which the 24 finalists will wait more than one year before the finals kick off. The matches will be played home and away format with each team playing two times against the opponents.
The finals for the 24 teams will play will be in Morocco from December 2025 to January 2026.
The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) is hopeful that Sihlangu will start its camping in the qualifiers under the new Coach. EFA is still under the process of hiring a new coach to take over from Interim Coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane who led the team to the COSAFA Cup.
Sihlangu recently played a goalless draw against Mozambique in the COSAFA Cup Group A where they also face Botswana and South Africa Bafana Bafana.
There are 12 groups in the qualifiers with neighbours South Africa in Group K against Uganda, Congo and South Sudan. Botswana was drawn in Group C against Egypt, Cape Verde and Mauritania while Lesotho is in Group b AGAINST Morocco, Gabon and Central Africa Republic.
THE AFCON QUALIFIERS GROUPS:
Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, Gambia
Group B: Morocco, Gabon,Central Africa Republic, Lesotho
Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Botswana
Group D: Nigeria, Benin Libya, Rwanda
Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Liberia
Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, Niger
Group G: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad
Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia
Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Eswatini
Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe
Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, South Sudan
Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Burundi
