MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
@SunZambian
Zambia has not been seeded in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, according to CAF in Cairo on Thursday.
CAF also announced that the draws would be conducted on July 18.
Chipolopolo will face any of the top seeds teams which include Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, DRC, Cameroon, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast & Algeria as possible opponents.
The teams the 2012 AfCON champions will avoid include Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde, Uganda, Benin, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Mauritania, Niger, Kenya and Libya
Chipolopolo were among the top seed for the 2019 series in which the team missed out to Guinea Bissau and Namibia.
The race for the 2021 continental showpiece will attract continental powerhouses.
Zambia has dropped to the second tier after she missed out on Africa’s continental showpiece twice in 2017 and 2019 editions .
The seeds are as follows:
POT 1: Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon (hosts), Egypt, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Algeria
POT 2: Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Mauritania, Niger, Kenya, Libya
POT 3: Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Malawi, Togo, Sudan, Tanzania
POT 4: Burundi, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, Botswana, Comoros, Ethiopia and four preliminary-round winners
POT 5: Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, South Sudan, Chad, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Djibouti
Eritrea, Somalia did not enter to participate in the competition
Stage 1: The eight POT 5 teams will be drawn into four pairings and the winners of the two-leg ties advance to stage 2 as part of POT 4
Stage 2: There will be 12 groups comprised of one team from pots 1-4.
The winners and runners-up of each of the 12 groups will qualify for the finals. Hosts Cameroon are guaranteed a place so only one other team will qualify from their group.
