CAF Postpone Super Eagles AFCON Qualifiers

The Super Eagles’ Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers double-header clashes against Guinea Bissau have been postponed, reports Megasportsarena.com.

According to the Confederation of African Football, the second phase of the AFCON qualifiers which was originally scheduled for September, has been pushed forward because of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which will hold in November and December.

A statement released by the African football governing body revealed that matchdays three and four games that were scheduled for September have now been pushed to March 2023 to allow African teams that have qualified for the 2022 World Cup to prepare adequately.

“The Confederation of African Football Executive Committee has approved a revised Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 revised qualification calendar,” read part of the statement on CAF’s official website.

“This was necessitated by the Executive Committee’s commitment to making room for the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/ December 2022 to prepare adequately.”

The statement continued: “Consequently, the September 2022 Africa Cup of Nations match day three and match day four qualifiers have been moved to March 20-28, 2023.

“Match-day five will now be on June 12-20, 2023 while match day six will be played on September 4-12, 2023.”

This decision came just a month after CAF had postponed the 34th edition of Africa’s biggest football showpiece scheduled to hold in Ivory Coast from June 2023 to January 2024.

The Super Eagles are currently top of Group A with six points, with victories over Sierra Leone (2-1) and Sao Tome and Principe (10-0).