Defending champions Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) failed to make it five out five after a 1-1 home draw against Congo Brazzaville in Kinshasa, which saw them miss out on qualification for the Total African Nations Championship.
DR Congo have won the African Nations Championship (CHAN) two times; beating Mali 3-0 in the final in Rwanda 2016 and winning the inaugural tournament in Ivory Coast in 2009.
Meanwhile, Uganda Cranes qualified for the CHAN 2018 championship to be hosted by Kenya after defeating Rwanda Amavubi stars 3-2 on aggregate, making it the fourth time in a row Uganda will play at the tournament.
Previously Uganda has played in the CHAN competition in Sudan 2011, 2013 in South Africa and Rwanda 2016, every time failing to leave the group stages.
North Africans, Egypt and Algeria also failed to qualify for the finals in Kenya after suffering aggregate defeats to Morocco and Libya, respectively.
Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria confirmed their places after beating Niger and Benin 1-0 and 2-0 on aggregate, respectively.
Despite CHAN matches only featuring locally-based footballers, the games have full international status and count toward the monthly FIFA rankings.
The tournament involves 16 teams and will take place from January 11 to February 2 in Kenya.
Qualified teams so far:
Kenya (host), Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan, Zambia, Uganda.
