Twenty-three of the 24 teams for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon have been confirmed.
The last qualifying team; either Benin or Sierra Leone will be determined in June. The two did not play in Freetown on Tuesday because of the Covid-19 test results that ruled out five Sierra Leone players.
The fixture has been rescheduled for the May 31-June 15 international window, with Sierra Leone trailing Benin by three points in Group L and needing a victory to overtake them and qualify.
Comoros and the Gambia qualified for the first time, increasing to 44 the number of countries who have qualified for the premier African national team competition.
Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa were the highest profile casualties, the failure of Uganda to secure a third straight appearance was the most spectacular. Zambia also missed out this time.
The tournament was scheduled to take place between 9 January and 6 February 2021 but on 30 June 2020, CAF moved the tournament to January 2022 following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualified teams: Cameroon (hosts), Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Zimbabwe.
