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FIERCE BATTLES AS 2019 AFCON QUALIFIERS HIT LAST STAGE

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA

It is barely 10 days to the conclusion of the qualifying tournament for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the biggest in history as it will feature 24 teams for the first time.

So far, 14 of the 24 teams are already known as they qualified well ahead of the last match day. Among the heavyweights already assured in the final tournament are Nigeria and seven-time champions, Egypt who are also the hosts.

The others are Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal. Also already qualified are Guinea, Mali, Uganda and Kenya

That leaves fierce battles for the remaining 10 slots. So, from March 19 to 21, there will be a lot to fight for. The 22 March  game featuring Nigeria in Asaba is a dead rubber as the Super Eagles are already qualified while their opponents, Seychelles are merely fulfilling the fixture.

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Attention therefore focus on the final ten places to be decided as Burundi, Comoros and Lesotho will be chasing history by grabbing their places in Africa’s flagship competition for the first time, following in the footsteps of Madagascar and Mauritania. 

However, some of Africa’s top sides like Cameroon, DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Congo have all to do in the final round of matches.

The match between Cameroon and the Comoros will decide who joins already-qualified Morocco from Group B as Malawi are unable to go through.

In Group G all the four teams have got a chance of qualifying with DR Congo hosting Liberia while Congo travel to Harare to face Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe lead the group with eight points, one ahead of Liberia while DR Congo and Congo have six and five points respectively.

Group K is also wide open are three sides are battling for the two slots. Guinea Bissau and Namibia have eight points each with Mozambique on seven points.

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Os Mambas will make a trip to Bissau while Namibia travels to Zambia who cannot qualify. With Mali taking Group C’s first ticket, a fierce battle will take place when Burundi welcomes Gabon with the hosts needing just a draw to qualify for the first time.

Burundi are second with 9 points while their opponents are two points adrift in third place. Another tough assignment is in Group I where Angola (9points) and Burkina Faso (7points) will slug it out for last ticket. Palancas Negras travel to face Botswana while Burkina Faso host Mauritania who have already qualified.

Also in a similar position in Group D where Algeria have already secured their place which leaves Benin (seven points) battling Gambia and Togo, with five points each, for the other slot.

Three teams will also be battling for Group L’s remaining slot as Tanzania, Lesotho and Cape Verde all have a chance of qualifying with Uganda already sealing their place. With Nigeria taking Group E’s first ticket, South Africa must avoid a defeat against Libya to qualify.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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