# 2024 African Nations Championship qualification

Qualification for the 2024 African Nations Championship began on 25 October and will conclude on 29 December 2024 to determine the 19 nations, including co-host nations, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, expected to qualify for the final tournament.

## Teams

A total of 40 (out of 54) CAF member national teams entered qualification that was split into zones based on their regional affiliations and had its draw held on 9 October 2024 at CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
| Zone | Spots (total 19) | Teams entering qualification | Repêchage re-engage teams | Did not enter |
| Northern Zone (UNAF) | 3 spots | Libya (W)  Morocco  Tunisia (W) | Algeria  Egypt |
| Western Zone A (WAFU-UFOA A) | 3 spots | Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Senegal  Sierra Leone | Gambia | Cape Verde |
| Western Zone B (WAFU-UFOA B) | 3 spots | Benin  Burkina Faso  Ghana  Ivory Coast  Niger  Nigeria  Togo | |
| Central Zone (UNIFFAC) | 3 spots | Cameroon  Central African Republic  Chad  Congo  DR Congo  Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Central Eastern Zone (CECAFA) | 1 spot + Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda (hosts) | Burundi  Djibouti  Eritrea (W)  Ethiopia  Rwanda  Somalia (W)  South Sudan  Sudan | |
| Southern Zone (COSAFA) | 3 spots | Angola  Eswatini  Lesotho  Madagascar  Mozambique  Namibia  Zambia  Zimbabwe | Comoros  South Africa  Malawi | Botswana  Mauritius  Seychelles |

### 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 are played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score is 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 is as follows.
| Zone / Round | Zone / Round | Matchday | Date |
| Western Zone A Western Zone B Central Eastern Zone Southern Zone | Central Zone | Matchday | Date |
| First round | — | First leg | 25–27 October 2024 |
| First round | — | Second leg | 31 October – 3 November 2024 |
| Second round | First round | First leg | 20–22 December 2024 |
| Second round | First round | Second leg | 27–29 December 2024 |

## Northern Zone

After Egypt and previous hosts Algeria withdrew before the draw, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia were the only teams entered: therefore, the Zone was scrapped and all three teams qualified automatically. On 22 November 2024, Libya withdrew from the tournament due to fixture congestion and concerns that the national team's participation would halt the league, hence the Libyan Football Federation prioritized the league schedule over the CHAN. On 28 November 2024, Tunisia also pulled out of the tournament following the clubs' rejection to the country's participation.

## Western Zone A
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Sierra Leone | 2–3 | Liberia | 1–2 | 1–1 |
Liberia won 3–2 on aggregate.

### Second round

Winners qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Liberia | 1–4 | Senegal | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Mauritania | 1–0 | Mali | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Guinea | 6–2 | Guinea-Bissau | 4–1 | 2–1 |
Senegal won 4–1 on aggregate.
Mauritania won 1–0 on aggregate.
Guinea won 6–2 on aggregate.

## Western Zone B
### First round

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

### Second round

Winners qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Togo | 1–1 (a) | Niger | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Ivory Coast | 2–2 (2–4 p) | Burkina Faso | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Ghana | 1–3 | Nigeria | 0–0 | 1–3 |
1–1 on aggregate. Niger won on away goals.
2–2 on aggregate. Burkina Faso won 4–2 on penalties.
Nigeria won 3–1 on aggregate.

## Central Zone

Winners qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Equatorial Guinea | 6–0 | Congo | 3–0 | 0–3 |
| Central African Republic | 2–2 (a) | Cameroon | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Chad | 2–4 | DR Congo | 1–1 | 1–3 |
Initially, Congo won 2–1 on aggregate. However, following a ruling by the CAF Disciplinary Committee in favor of Equatorial Guinea, Congo was found to have fielded an ineligible player in both matches. As a result, both matches were declared forfeited by Congo, awarding Equatorial Guinea a 6–0 aggregate victory.
2–2 on aggregate. Central African Republic won on away goals.
DR Congo won 4–2 on aggregate.

## Central Eastern Zone
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Burundi | w/o | Somalia | — | — |
| Ethiopia | w/o | Eritrea | — | — |
| Sudan | 1–1 (6–5 p) | Tanzania | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| South Sudan | 3–1 | Kenya | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Djibouti | 1–3 | Rwanda | 1–0 | 0–3 |
Burundi won on walkover and advanced to the second round after Somalia withdrew prior to the first leg due to financial challenges.
Ethiopia won on walkover and advanced to the second round after Eritrea withdrew prior to the first leg.
1–1 on aggregate. Sudan won 6–5 on penalties.
South Sudan won 3–1 on aggregate.
Rwanda won 3–1 on aggregate.

### Second round

Since the three hosts from this region have automatically qualified themselves, only the best-performing nation (excluding the hosts) can additionally qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Burundi | 0–2 | Uganda | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Ethiopia | 1–4 | Sudan | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| South Sudan | 4–4 (a) | Rwanda | 3–2 | 1–2 |
Uganda won 2–0 on aggregate.
Sudan won 4–1 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate. Rwanda won on away goals.

## Southern Zone
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Zimbabwe | 0–4 | Eswatini | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Lesotho | 1–1 (4–3 p) | Namibia | 1–0 | 0–1 |
Eswatini won 4–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Lesotho won 4–3 on penalties.

### Second round

Winners qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Eswatini | 1–2 | Madagascar | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Lesotho | 1–2 | Angola | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Mozambique | w/o | Zambia | — | — |
Madagascar won 2–1 on aggregate.
Angola won 2–1 on aggregate.
Zambia won on walkover and qualified to the final tournament after Mozambique withdrew prior to the first leg due to post-election violence.

## Second qualifying stage

Following the withdrawals of Tunisia and Libya, it was decided to organise a second qualifier tournament between 7 'reengaged' teams: Algeria, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, South Africa to determine the final two slots.
The draw was held on 13 February 2025 at 13:25 EST (UTC+2) at the Confederation of African Football Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The 7 teams were drawn into 3 games, with Runners-up of the previous edition Algeria receiving a bye to the second round.

### First round

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Comoros | 0–4 | Malawi | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| South Africa | 4–2 | Egypt | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Gambia | 0–0 (5–3 p) | Gabon | 0–0 | 0–0 |
Malawi won 4–0 on aggregate.
South Africa won 4–2 on aggregate.
0–0 on aggregate. Gambia won 5–3 on penalties.

### Second round

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Malawi | | South Africa | May 2nd | May 9th |
| Gambia | | Algeria | May 2nd | May 9th |

## Qualified teams

The following 19 teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualifying zone | Qualified on | Previous appearances in African Nations Championship |
| Kenya (co-hosts) | Central Eastern Zone | 26 September 2024 | 0 (debut) |
| Tanzania (co-hosts) | Central Eastern Zone | 26 September 2024 | 2 (2009, 2020) |
| Uganda (co-hosts) | Central Eastern Zone | 26 September 2024 | 6 (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Morocco | Northern Zone | 9 October 2024 | 4 (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Guinea | Western Zone A | 28 December 2024 | 3 (2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Senegal | Western Zone A | 28 December 2024 | 3 (2009, 2011, 2022) |
| Mauritania | Western Zone A | 29 December 2024 | 3 (2014, 2018, 2022) |
| Burkina Faso | Western Zone B | 28 December 2024 | 3 (2014, 2018, 2022) |
| Niger | Western Zone B | 27 December 2024 | 4 (2011, 2016, 2020, 2022) |
| Nigeria | Western Zone B | 28 December 2024 | 3 (2014, 2016, 2018) |
| Central African Republic | Central Zone | 28 December 2024 | 0 (debut) |
| DR Congo | Central Zone | 28 December 2024 | 6 (2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022) |
| Equatorial Guinea | Central Zone | 21 January 2025 | 1 (2018) |
| Sudan | Central Eastern Zone | 28 December 2024 | 3 (2011, 2018, 2022) |
| Angola | Southern Zone | 28 December 2024 | 4 (2011, 2016, 2018, 2022) |
| Madagascar | Southern Zone | 29 December 2024 | 1 (2022) |
| Zambia | Southern Zone | 15 December 2024 | 4 (2009, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| To be confirmed | Repêchage winner | | |
| To be confirmed | Repêchage winner | | |

### Notes

* Years in bold indicate a championship in the respective tournament.