CAF moves forward the U23 AFCON draw

Friday Sep 27, 2019. 13:00

The draw for the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations tournament has been moved ahead by 24 hours for the logistic reasons, the Confederation of African Football said.

It will still take place in Alexandria but now on October 2 at 17h00 GMT at the Montaza Palace, built in the 19th century as a summer palace for Egypt’s king.

The African protagonists left in the race for Olympic Games’ glory will know their pathway to next year’s Tokyo Games when the draw is conducted for the tournament from 8-22 November.

The top three finishers qualify to represent Africa at the men’s football tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Hosts Egypt, who qualified automatically for the continental championship, are expected to be seeded along with Nigeria, who won the last tournament in 2015 and went onto take bronze at the Rio Olympics.

Cameroon, who won Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000, and Ghana, who took bronze in Barcelona in 1992, are the other two countries in the field who have had previous Olympic success.

They will be joined in the draw by Ivory Coast, Mali, South Africa and Zambia, who caused a major sensation in Seoul in1998 by beating Italy but then went out in the last eight.

Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa qualified for the last Olympics in 2016.

The African Under-23 Championship has only been staged twice before and is played every four years ahead of each Olympics.

Gabon were the inaugural champions in 2011 while Nigeria took first place in Dakar four years ago.