CAF has released the draw procedure for the CHAN 2022 which will be held in Algeria.
The qualifiers will be arranged by zone, while the final competition will feature 18 teams.
CAF made this announcement on Wednesday evening on their official website.
The draw for the qualifiers will take place live on all CAF digital platforms at 11:00 GMT.
Algerian icon Djamal Menad, top scorer and AFCON champion with Algeria in 1990, will serve as the draw assistant, with CAF Head of Competitions Khaled Nassar.
The tournament will be held in Algeria in January and February 2023.
See the draw procedure below:
Northern Zone (2 teams to qualify + HOST)
Engaged Teams: Libya & Morocco
Since there are only two teams engaged from this Zone and only two teams are qualified from this zone ((in addition to the host that is automatically qualified); hence Libya and Morocco are automatically qualified to the final tournament.
Western Zone A (3 teams to qualify)
Engaged Teams (9): All MAs engaged.
Level I – Guinea, Mali, Mauritania
Level II – Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Cap Vert, Liberia, Gambia & Sierra Leone
First Round: The six teams from Level II will play against each other. The first team drawn will play against the 2nd team drawn, the 3rd team drawn will play against the 4th team drawn and the 5th team drawn will play against the 6th team drawn. The team drawn last will play second match at home.
Second Round: Teams of level I will play against the winners of the 1st round.
Guinea will play against the winner of match 1/2 – Mali will play against the winner of match 3/4 and Mauritania will play against the winner of match 5/6
The teams of level 1 play the 2nd match at home.
Western Zone B (3 teams to qualify)
Engaged Teams (7): All MAs engaged.
Level I – Nigeria, Burkina Faso & Niger
Level II – Côte d’Ivoire & Togo
Level III – Ghana & Benin.
1st Round: The two teams from Level III will play against each other. A draw will be done to determine the order of the matches. The team drawn last will play second match at home.
2nd Round: A team will be drawn from Level I to play against a team that will be drawn from Level II. The procedure will be repeated 2 times. The last team remaining will play against the winner of the 1st round (Winner 1/2).
Level I will play the 2nd match at home.
Central Zone (3 teams to qualify)
Engaged Teams (6 teams): Sao tome are suspended & Gabon did not engage.
Level I – Cameroon,DR Congo & Congo
Level II – Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa, & Chad
First Round: A team will be drawn from Level I to play against a team that will be drawn from *Level II. *The procedure will be repeated 3 times.
The teams of level 1 play the 2nd match at home.
Central East Zone (3 teams to qualify)
Engaged Teams (9): Eritrea & Kenya did not engage.
Level I – Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan
Level II – Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia & Djibouti.
First Round: The six teams from Level II will play against each other. The 1st team drawn will play against the 2nd team drawn, the 3rd team drawn will play against the 4th team drawn and the 5th team drawn will play against the 6th team drawn. The team drawn last will play second match at home.
Second Round: Teams of level I will play against the winners of the 1st round.
Rwanda will play against the winner of match 1/2 – Uganda will play against the winner of match 3/4 and Sudan will play against the winner of match 5/6
The teams of level 1 play the 2nd match at home.
The aggregate winners are qualified to the Final Tournament.
Southern Zone (3 teams to qualify)
Engaged Teams (13): Lesotho did not engage
Level I – Zambia, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Madagascar & Eswatini
Level II –South Africa, Mozambique, Comoros, Mauritius & Botswana
Level III –Malawi & Seychelles.
1st Round: The teams from Level III will play against each other. A draw will be done to determine the order of the matches. The team drawn last will play second match at home.
2nd Round: A team will be drawn from Level I to play against a team that will be drawn from Level II. The procedure will be repeated 5 times. The last team remaining will play against the winner of the 1st round (Winner 1/2).
Level I will play second match at home.
3rd Round: The winner of matches 3/4 will play against the winner of matches 5/6 and the winner of 7/8 will play against 9/10 and the winner of 11/12 will play against 13/14
The winner of matches 15/16, 17/18 and 19/20 are qualified to the Final Tournament
In case the suspension of Zimbabwe FA is not lifted 2 weeks before their first match, they will be considered loser and eliminated from the competition.