# 2022 African Nations Championship qualification

The 2022 African Nations Championship qualification was a men's football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2022 African Nations Championship. Only national team players who were playing in their country's own domestic league were eligible to compete in the tournament.
A total of 18 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Algeria which qualified automatically as hosts.

## Teams

A total of 42 (out of 54) CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds, split into zones according to their regional affiliations. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 26 May 2022 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
| Zone | Spots (total 18) | Teams entering qualification | Did not enter |
| Northern Zone (UNAF) | 2 spots+ Algeria (hosts) | Libya  Morocco | Tunisia  Egypt |
| Western Zone A (WAFU-UFOA A) | 3 spots | Cape Verde  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Senegal  Gambia  Sierra Leone | |
| Western Zone B (WAFU-UFOA B) | 3 spots | Benin  Burkina Faso  Ghana  Ivory Coast  Niger  Nigeria  Togo | |
| Central Zone (UNIFFAC) | 3 spots | Central African Republic  Chad  Congo  DR Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Cameroon | São Tomé and Príncipe  Gabon |
| Central Eastern Zone (CECAFA) | 3 spots | Burundi  Djibouti  Ethiopia  Rwanda  Somalia  South Sudan  Sudan  Tanzania  Uganda | Eritrea  Kenya |
| Southern Zone (COSAFA) | 3 spots | Angola  Botswana  Comoros  Eswatini  Madagascar  Malawi  Mauritius  Mozambique  Seychelles  South Africa  Zambia  Zimbabwe | Namibia  Lesotho |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
* Teams in italics received a bye to the second round in the qualifying draw.
* (W): Withdrew after draw

## Format

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).

## Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.
| Zone / Round | Zone / Round | Matchday | Date |
| Western Zone A Western Zone B Central Zone Central Eastern Zone | Southern Zone | Matchday | Date |
| First round | First round | First leg | 22–24 July 2022 |
| First round | First round | Second leg | 26–31 July 2022 |
| Second round | Second round | First leg | 26–29 August 2022 |
| Second round | Second round | Second leg | 2–4 September 2022 |

## Northern Zone

Algeria qualified as host nation.
After Egypt and Tunisia withdrew before the draw, Libya and Morocco were the only teams entered: therefore, the Zone was scratched and both teams qualified.

## Western Zone A
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Liberia | 2–4 | Senegal | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| Sierra Leone | 3–2 | Cape Verde | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Gambia | 1–1 (3–5 p) | Guinea-Bissau | 1–0 | 0–1 |
Senegal won 4–2 on aggregate.
Sierra Leone won 3–2 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Guinea-Bissau won 5–3 on penalties.

### Second round

Winners qualified for 2022 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Senegal | 1–1 (5–3 p) | Guinea | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Sierra Leone | 1–4 | Mali | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0–2 | Mauritania | 0–1 | 0–1 |

## Western Zone B
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ghana | 4–0 | Benin | 3–0 | 1–0 |
Ghana won 4–0 on aggregate.

### Second round

Winners qualified for 2022 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ivory Coast | 0–0 (5–3 p) | Burkina Faso | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Togo | 2–3 | Niger | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Ghana | 2–2 (5–4 p) | Nigeria | 2–0 | 0–2 |

## Central Zone

Winners qualified for 2022 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Central African Republic | 2–2 | Congo | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 1–2 | Cameroon | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Chad | 1–7 | DR Congo | 1–2 | 0–5 |

## Central Eastern Zone
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ethiopia | 5–0 | South Sudan | 0–0 | 5–0 |
| Somalia | 1–3 | Tanzania | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Burundi | 3–3 (2–4 p) | Djibouti | 2–1 | 1–2 |
Ethiopia won 5–0 on aggregate.
Tanzania won 3–1 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Djibouti won 4–2 on penalties.

### Second round

Winners qualified for 2022 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ethiopia | 1–0 | Rwanda | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Tanzania | 0–4 | Uganda | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Djibouti | 3–7 | Sudan | 1–4 | 2–3 |

## Southern Zone
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Mauritius | 0–3 | Angola | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Comoros | 0–1 | South Africa | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Botswana | 2–2 (a) | Eswatini | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Seychelles | 0–4 | Madagascar | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Malawi | awd. | Zimbabwe | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| Mozambique | 1–0 | Zambia | 0–0 | 1–0 |
Angola won 3–0 on aggregate.
South Africa won 1–0 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Botswana won on away goals rule.
Madagascar won 4–0 on aggregate.
Malawi advanced on walkover.
Mozambique won 1–0 on aggregate.

### Second round

Winners qualified for 2022 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Angola | 6–1 | South Africa | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| Botswana | 1–2 | Madagascar | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Malawi | 1–1 | Mozambique | 1–1 | 0–0 |

## Qualified teams

The following 18 teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualifying zone | Qualified on | Previous appearances in African Nations Championship |
| Algeria (hosts) | Northern Zone | 29 September 2018 | 1 (2011) |
| Morocco | Northern Zone | 26 May 2022 | 4 (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Libya | Northern Zone | 26 May 2022 | 4 (2009, 2014, 2018, 2020) |
| Senegal | Western Zone A | 2 September 2022 | 2 (2009, 2011) |
| Mauritania | Western Zone A | 2 September 2022 | 2 (2014, 2018) |
| Mali | Western Zone A | 3 September 2022 | 4 (2011, 2014, 2016, 2020) |
| Niger | Western Zone B | 3 September 2022 | 3 (2011, 2016, 2020) |
| Ghana | Western Zone B | 3 September 2022 | 3 (2009, 2011, 2014) |
| Ivory Coast | Western Zone B | 4 September 2022 | 4 (2009, 2011, 2016, 2018) |
| DR Congo | Central Zone | 4 September 2022 | 5 (2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2020) |
| Congo | Central Zone | 4 September 2022 | 3 (2014, 2018, 2020) |
| Cameroon | Central Zone | 4 September 2022 | 4 (2011, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Sudan | Central Eastern Zone | 2 September 2022 | 2 (2011, 2018) |
| Ethiopia | Central Eastern Zone | 3 September 2022 | 2 (2014, 2016) |
| Uganda | Central Eastern Zone | 3 September 2022 | 5 (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Madagascar | Southern Zone | 2 September 2022 | 0 (debut) |
| Angola | Southern Zone | 4 September 2022 | 3 (2011, 2016, 2018) |
| Mozambique | Southern Zone | 4 September 2022 | 1 (2014) |

## Goalscorers

There were 105 goals scored in 54 matches, for an average of 1.94 goals per match.
3 goals
* Samuel Akinbinu
* Daniel Afriyie
* Tsilavina Razanakoto
2 goals
* Danilson
* Kader Bidimbou
* Phillippe Kinzumbi
* Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele
* Ramond Ndour
* Alie Conteh
* Mohamed Abdelrahman
* Alsamani Alsawi
* Abdul Suleiman
1 goal
* Augusto Carneiro
* Pedro Pessoa Miguel
* Jó Paciência
* Jaredi Teixiera
* Deivi Miguel Vieira
* Mothusi Johnson
* Thero Setsile
* Godfrey Tauyatswala
* Aimé Gakiza
* Akbar Muderi
* Cédric Urasenga
* Djawal Kaiba
* Souaibou Marou
* Gielson
* Kelton
* Delphin Mokonou
* Tresór Toropité
* Bakhit Djibrine
* Adam Bossu
* Ernest Luzolo
* Maxi Mpia
* Gabriel Dadzie
* Warsama Hassan
* Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh
* Pedro Oba
* Sandile Gamedze
* Fanelo Mamba
* Yigezu Bogale
* Amanuel Gebremichael
* Dawa Hotessa
* Mesud Mohammed
* Ramadan Yusef
* Alieu Barry
* Mohammed Alhassan
* Gladson Awako
* Seidu Suraj
* Ousmane Dramé
* Botche Cande
* Nicholas Andrews
* Sidiki Kromah
* Arohasina Andrianarimanana
* Rinjala Raherinaivo
* Marcio Ravelomanantsoa
* Yamikani Chester
* Ousmane Kamissoko
* Makan Samabaly
* Issaka Samaké
* Hamidou Sinayoko
* Bodda Mouhsine
* Devrason
* Pachoio Lau Há King
* Abdoul Garba
* Boubacar Haïnikoye
* Mossi Issa Moussa
* Chijioke Akuneto
* Zulkifilu Rabiu
* Mélèye Diagne
* Jean Louis Diouf
* Bouly Sambou
* Prince Barrie
* Musa Noah Kamara
* Farhan Mohamed Ahmed
* Prince Nxumalo
* Khulekani Shezi
* Waleed Al-Shoala
* Muhamed Al-Teket
* Yaser Muzmel
* Dickson Job
* Ashraf Agoro
* Bilal Akoro
* Richard Basangwa
* Rogers Mato
* Travis Mutyaba
* Moses Waiswa
1 own goal
* XXX (against Mauritania)
* Damien Balisson (against Angola)
* Mosa Lebusa (against Angola)
* Peter Meeker (against Ethiopia)