Eagles to face Benin, Lesotho, Sierra Leone in 2021 AFCON qualifiers

Super Eagles have been handed a seemingly easy group in their attempt to qualify for two consecutive editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Eagles which just finished as third best at the 2019 AFCON after they narrowly beat Tunisia 1-0 have been put in Group L along with the Squirrels of Benin, The Leone Stars of Sierra Leone and Lesotho in the
race for the 2021 AFCON to be staged in Cameroon.

In a draw conducted during the CAF General Assembly in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday the top two teams from the 12 groups will automatically qualify for the 33rd edition of the AFCON slated for Cameroon.

CAF decided to include the host of the next AFCON, Cameroon and the two finalists at the ongoing 2019 AFCON: Algeria and Senegal in the qualifiers to ensure that they stay active for the next edition.

Benin, one of Nigeria’s Group L opponents got to the quarter-final stage of the 2019 AFCON before they lost to Senegal 1-0 while SierraLeone and Lesotho are not expected to pose many problems for the Eagles.

The preliminary round which will produce four teams that will join their already known opponents from Group A to D will be determined between October 7 and 15 2019.

Liberia will face Chad, South Sudan will slug it out with Seychelleswhile Mauritius will try Sao Tome for size. The remaining tie is between Djibouti and Zambia and the four teams will join the group properly after their emergence in October.

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Day 1 and 2 of the qualifiers will hold between November 11 and 19 while Day 3 and 4 are scheduled for between August 31 and September 8, 2020. Day 5 is fixed for between October 5 and 13 while the final day of reckoning (Day 6) will hold between November 9 and 17.