11 countries in contention for final six places

Besides hosts Equatorial Guinea, nine others have confirmed their places for the 2015 Orange AFCON ahead of this weekend’s ultimate matches of the qualifying series.

They are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia.

The remaining six places will be decided on the final day of the qualifiers; Wednesday, 19 November 2014. It includes the runners-up in Groups A, B and D and two from Group E, whilst the other one is for the best third placed team from all seven groups.

Here is an analysis of the concerned groups prior to the Day Six (6) matches;

Group A

The battle for the second ticket is between Nigeria and Congo. The Super Eagles must win at the newly built Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo against South Africa to qualify to successfully defend their title in Equatorial Guinea, irrespective of the result of the Sudan versus Congo encounter in Khartoum. On the otherhand, Congo must beat Sudan and hope that Nigeria is held or suffers a defeat against South Africa to go through.

Group B

The second spot for the group is a three-horse race, with Malawi, Mali and Ethiopia in contention. The Flames of Malawi and the Eagles of Mali have six points apiece whilst the Walyas of Ethiopia are on three points. Defeats for Malawi and Mali will see all three teams finish on six points each, and the tie will be broken based on the outcome of the matches between the three concerned teams.

Group D

The second slot for the group is up for grabs between Cote d’Ivoire and DR Congo. The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire has three more than the six points of the Leopards of Congo. A draw against Cameroon will hand the Ivorians the second automatic slot from the group. However, in the case of defeat for the Ivorians and victory for the Congolese against Sierra Leone, the latter will qualify ahead of the former due to the head-to-head advantage.

Group E

All four teams in the group have an equal chance of qualification. Ghana has eight points, Uganda and Guinea on seven points each with Togo in that order with six points. Ghana will host Togo in Tamale whilst Guinea squares Uganda in Casablanca. With the current situation, it will perhaps be left with arithmetic to settle on the group’s two automatic slots.

Below, the regulation of the tournament explains the above scenario and how it will be settled in the event of a tie;

Article 14

In case of equality of points between two or more teams, after all the group matches, the ranking of the teams shall be established according to the following criteria: