The Confederation of African Football said on Sunday that the next round of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers in September has been postponed to give the continent’s five World Cup teams an opportunity for better preparation matches ahead of the tournament in Qatar.
The postponement was muted for weeks, notably the date of the next Cup of Nations final in Ivory Coast was pushed back from June of the following year to January 2024.
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Senegal’s coach Aliu Sisse was among the more outspoken critics of the fixtures, meaning his country would have to play two Cup of Nations qualifiers against Mozambique in September’s final window of opportunity, when they were to play against the opposition. From other continents before the World Cup.
Senegal is expected to announce alternative fixtures soon.
Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia are the other African teams that will play in the World Cup final.
There are still four rounds left in the Cup of Nations qualifiers, which began with two rounds of matches in June.
The CAF stated that match day three and match four qualifiers have been moved to March 20–28 next year, with a fifth round to be played from 12–20 June 2023, while match day 6 will be played on September 4–12 2023.