Afcon 2021 Qualifiers: Draw pairs Nigeria with Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Benin

Nigeria have been pooled against Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Benin Republic in Group L of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations billed for Cameroon.

The draw ceremony took place on Thursday evening at the plush Marriott Hotels in Cairo, with African football icons, Nwankwo Kanu, Samuel Eto’o, Khalilou Fadiga, Geremi Njitap, El Hadji Diouf and Jose Clayton in attendance.

Caf deputy General Secretary of Football and Development, Anthony Baffoe was in charge of proceedings and was assisted by Algerian football great, Rabah Madjer, Eto’o and Nigeria’s Kanu.

The 48 teams were drawn into 12 groups of four teams, in addition to the four winners of the preliminary round.

In Group A, Mali will join Guinea, Namibia and the winner between Liberia and Chad for size, while Group B comprises of Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malawi and Djibouti/Gambia.

Afcon 2019 quarter-finalists, South Africa will have their hands full in Group C against Ghana and Sudan.

The top two teams will book their place for the 33rd edition of the championship.

Hosts Cameroon will participate in the qualifiers even though the team is guaranteed a spot in the finals regardless of its ranking in the group.

Their matches and results will count in determining the qualification of the other teams from their groups, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Rwanda.