Black Stars to play Madagascar, Angola, CAR in AFCON 2023 qualifiers

Ghana has been pitted in Group E of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers alongside Madagascar, Angola and Central African Republic following the Draw in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday.

According to CAF, the winners and runners-up of the 11 groups, where the host is not playing, will seal qualification to the continental soccer tournament. Cote d’Ivoire will qualify regardless of their position in Group H while reigning champions Senegal have been drawn into Group L alongside Benin, Mozambique and Rwanda.

The second round qualifiers for the Cote d’Ivoire 2023 tournament will begin between May 30 and June 14 this year. If the suspension on Kenya and Zimbabwe is not lifted two weeks to their first qualifier, both teams will be eliminated from the AFCON 2023 qualifiers.

After an embarrassing 2021 AFCON campaign in Cameroon, the Black Stars will be hoping to make amends with a more inspiring performance in the qualifiers, as Ghana intends to use the road to Cote d’Ivoire to prepare for the 2022 World Cup.

The Black Stars are still chasing their fifth AFCON title after 40 years. Ghana last won the AFCON trophy at the Libya 1982 event.

Below are the full groupings for AFCON 2023 Qualifiers:

Group A: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome e Principe/Mauritius

Group B: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Togo, Eswatini

Group C: Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Burundi

Group D: Egypt, Guinea, Malawi, Ethiopia

Group E: Ghana, Madagascar, Angola, Central African Republic

Group F: Algeria, Uganda, Niger, Tanzania

Group G: Mali, Congo, The Gambia South Sudan

Group H: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Comoros, Lesotho

Group I: DR Congo, Gabon, Mauritania, Sudan

Group J: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Botswana

Group K: Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Liberia

Group L: Senegal, Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda