CAF confirms new dates for AFCON, World Cup qualifiers

Nigeria are set to resume their 2021 AFCON qualifying campaign in November, while they’ll begin their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign in May.

The Africa Cup of Nations, which will be hosted by Cameroon, has been shifted for a year and will take place in 2022.

Gernot Rohr’s men are well placed to qualify for Africa’s biggest showpiece having won their first two qualifiers against the Benin Republic and Lesotho.

In a statement made available on CAF’s website, the third and fourth round of 2021 AFCON qualifiers previously scheduled for March will now take place between November 9-17 with the fifth and final round scheduled for March 22-30.

The third and fourth round of qualifiers could not take place as scheduled in March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Super Eagles face the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in a doubleheader before rounding up against the Squirrels of Benin and Crocodiles of Lesotho.

Meanwhile, the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers initially scheduled to start in November will now kick-off in May 2021 and end in October 2021.

Nigeria have been drawn in a group that includes Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia.