The Liberia national men’s football team Lone Star has been placed in Group ‘K’ of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
According to the draw conducted on Tuesday night in Johannesburg, Liberia will battle for a place in the continental tournament with Morocco, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The first two teams in each of the 12 groups will qualify for the finals except in Group ‘H’, where Cameroon automatically qualify as hosts with the highest placed of other three teams.
Lone Star coach Peter Butler will be looking to guide Liberia to Afcon tournament when the qualifiers proper commence on June.
Liberia’s opponents Zimbabwe will however have to clear her suspension by the World Football governing body, Fifa, following the government’s interference of football management in the country.
Kenya is the other country suspended by Fifa, owing to the same reason.The Harambee Stars have been drawn in Group C and will face Burundi, Namibia and five-time winners Cameroon.
If the suspension is not lifted two weeks before their first matchday of the qualifiers, both associations will be considered as losers and eliminated from the competition.
The Lone Star last graced the Afcon finals in 2002 in Mali where they failed to make it past the group stages.
The first two qualifying matchdays are scheduled between May 30 and June 14, with two more rounds between September 19 and 27 and the final two next year from March 20-28.
Ivory Coast, who staged the tournament in 1984 when it comprises just eight teams, will host a 24-team event next June and July.
Full draw:
Group A: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome/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 Africa Republic
Group F: Algeria, Uganda, Niger, Tanzania
Group G: Mali, Congo, 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
