CAF outlines Afcon2013 qualification criteria

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has outlined the qualification criteria for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

A CAF statement released on Thursday says there will be a seeding system after the second round of matches at the end of June.

The Flames will face Chad on June 30 in the second round second leg, having lost the first leg 3-2 away in N’djamena.

The statement says 14 teams that qualify from the second round will be joined in the third round by the 16 finalists at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations edition. The knockout matches will be played at in home and away to determine the 15 teams to join hosts South Africa for the final tournament.

According to CAF, the 30 teams will be divided into two pots comprising 15 teams each. There will be a drawing of lots in July, taking into consideration the ranking of the teams at the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations to determine the teams to be placed in the two pots.

For the 16 finalists of the 2012 edition, the winner gets seven points, five points for the finalist, three points for the semi-finalists, two points for quarter-finalists and one point for group phase participants.

From the seedings, reigning Africa champions Zambia is the highest seeded team with 26 points, Ghana (22), Cote d’Ivoire (22), Egypt (21), Mali (12), Tunisia (10), Cameroon (9), Angola (9), Nigeria (8), Gabon (8), Algeria (6) and Equatorial Guinea (6).

The rest are Guinea (5 points), Burkina Faso (5), Senegal (4), Morocco (4), Benin (3), Libya (3), Niger (3), Botswana (3), Malawi (2), Togo (2), Mozambique (2), Namibia (1) and South Africa (1).

According to CAF, the top-ranked 15 countries will be in Pot 1 and the rest in Pot 2.

The final tournament will be held from January 19 to February 10 2013.