Lesotho gets tricky 2019 AFCON draw

Mafa Moremoholo and Likuena will have a tough road to Cameroon 2019

Lesotho has been drawn against Uganda, Cape Verde and Tanzania in Group L for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

The draw was conducted on Thursday evening. The top team in each of the 12 groups and the three best runners-up will advance to the finals in Cameroon in 201.

Lesotho’s qualification campaign will start in June with the first round of group games before a long break until March 2018 for the next qualifier.

The pool matches will continue with a double-header in September 2018 before the final two fixtures in October and November of that year. 

Likuena were fourth seeds in the draw and they have been drawn in a difficult group. Uganda are at the Africa Cup of Nations and were recently Africa’s national team of the year for 2016 while Cape Verde was the continent’s no.1 ranked team as recently as March 2016.

Meanwhile, Lesotho has moved down one place to 142nd in the latest FIFA world rankings released on Thursday. Likuena remain the 43rd best team in Africa.

AFCON 2019 Qualifiers

Qualifying dates:

20-28 March, 2017: Two legs of preliminary round

05-13 June, 2017: Matchday 1

19-27 March, 2018: Matchday 2

03-11 September, 2018: Matchday 3 and 4

08-16 October, 2018: Matchday 5

05-13 November, 2018: Matchday 6

Full draw:

Group A: Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Sao Tome/Madagascar

Group B: Cameroon, Morocco, Malawi, Comoros/Mauritius

Group C: Mali, Gabon, Burundi, Djibouti/South Sudan

Group D: Algeria, Togo, Benin, Gambia

Group E: Nigeria, South Africa, Seychelles

Group F: Ghana, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya

Group G: DR Congo, Congo, Zimbabwe, Liberia

Group H: Ivory Coast, Guinea, Central Africa Republic, Rwanda

Group I: Burkina Faso, Angola, Botswana, Mauritania

Group J: Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Swaziland

Group K: Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Namibia

Group L: Cape Verde, Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho