The draw for the rescheduled 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon will be held in Yaounde on August 17, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced.
It was originally set for June 25 in the Cameroonian capital only to be delayed by coronavirus pandemic issues.
“Caf together with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Cameroon announce that the draw for the final phase of the 33rd edition of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021, will take place on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at the Yaounde Conference Centre, Cameroon at 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT).
“The draw will see the 24 countries that will participate in next year’s TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations descend in the country ahead of 09 January 2022 kick-off,” read a statement.
The 24-team premier African football tournament has twice been postponed because of Covid-19 and is now due to kick off on January 9 and conclude on February 6.
Algeria will defend a trophy they won in Cairo two years ago by defeating Senegal 1-0 in the final through an early goal from Baghdad Bounedjah.
Cameroon are hosting the Cup of Nations for the first time since 1972 when only eight countries competed and Congo Brazzaville triumphed.
The other 22 qualifiers are Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Comoros, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
