By By Habeeb Ibrahim
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will soon know their opponents for the qualification race of the 35th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.
The draw for the 2025 AFCON will be conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, according to The Punch.
According to the Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire, the draw will be held at the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg. The 48 participating countries will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each.
The top two teams in eleven of the groups will qualify directly for the finals, scheduled to take place from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. The 12th group, which includes host nation Morocco, will see Morocco qualify automatically, alongside one other team.
The qualifying matches will be played over the FIFA windows of September, October, and November this year. Nigeria’s opponents in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race, including Benin Republic, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, are all part of Thursday’s draw.
The 48 teams participating in the draw have been divided into four pots:
Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, DR Congo, Ghana
Pot 2: Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Benin Republic, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar
Pot 3: Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Tanzania, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Comoros, Togo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Central African Republic
Pot 4: Niger Republic, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, The Gambia, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Sudan, Chad
The draw will determine the opponents for the Super Eagles in the qualification race for the 2025 AFCON.
