Sierra Leone’s national football team, the Leone Stars, is poised to discover their opponents in the journey to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The draw for the qualifiers is scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The qualification matches are set to commence in September 2024, aiming to identify the top 24 nations that will compete in Africa’s premier football event, the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, to be held in Morocco in 2025.

The draw, which will be conducted at SuperSport, will feature 48 nations, including the four winners from the preliminary round: Chad, Eswatini, Liberia, and South Sudan. These teams will be divided into 12 groups of four, each vying for a spot in the finals.

Among the confirmed nations for the draw are the reigning African champions, Côte d’Ivoire, alongside notable teams such as Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, and Ethiopia. Other teams include Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Sierra Leone missed out on the previous edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations held in Côte d’Ivoire in 2023, where the host nation triumphed to secure their third title. This upcoming qualification process promises a series of exciting and competitive matches as teams strive for a place in the 35th edition of this prestigious continental tournament.

The draw event will be attended by selected CAF legends, representatives of the participating teams, and members of the Local Organising Committee for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, among others.