Flames coach Patrick Mabedi says strategic planning and preparation will be key to the team’s success in the 2025 AFRICA Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Mabedi was reacting to the qualifiers’ draw held on Thursday which saw the Flames placed alongside Senegal, Burkina Faso and Burundi in group L.
The former Flames captain, though acknowledging the difficulty of the group, remains optimistic about his team’s chances of finishing in the top two and booking a ticket to the finals in Morocco next year.
“We are in a tough group, there are good teams that have been to AFCON more often, Senegal and Burkina Faso. We need to work hard so that we can overcome them, but at the end of the day, it will be eleven versus eleven on the field.
“We need to plan and prepare to counter the experience and skills of our opponents whose players mostly play in Europe. It will be difficult but it’s not impossible,” he stressed.
The qualifying matches will be played over the FIFA international windows of September, October and November this year.
This is the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament will be played between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026.
Here is a full result of AFCON 2025 qualifiers draw
Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros and The Gambia
Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic and Lesotho
Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Botswana
Group D: Nigeria, Benin, Libya and Rwanda
Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and Liberia
Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan and Niger
Group G: Cote devoir, Zambia, Chad and Sierra Leon
Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania and Ethiopia
Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Eswatini
Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe
Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo and South Sudan
Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Burundi
Source: FAM
