Nigeria and Ghana are among 30 teams vying for tickets to the fourth edition of the African Nations Championship this weekend.
Ghana will be slugging it out with Cote d'Ivoire for a place in the finals. Led by Maxwell Konadu, the Black Stars host the Elephants at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday, before travelling to Abidjan for decisive second leg next week.
The Super Eagles, led by Salisu Yusuf and Alloy Agu, will host Burkina Faso in the first leg of their final round qualifying tie on Saturday in Port-Harcourt, while the second leg will be played next week Thursday in Ouagadougou.
A total of 25 players are fighting for places in the squad to take on the Stallions, but Warri Wolves star Gbolahan Salami has been confirmed as the captain. Nigeria failed to qualify for the first two editions of the competition reserved for senior players plying their trade in their country\'s domestic leagues, but finished third in the last finals played in South Africa early in 2014.
The winners of the 13 ties over two legs will join hosts Rwanda and the two top teams from a three-team group qualifying format for the North African teams. Morocco and Libya currently lead former champions Tunisia with two rounds of games to play.
South Africa host Angola in a dress rehearsal for their 2018 World Cup qualifying clash next month, while Cameroon will be hoping to do as much damage to visitors Congo before the second leg.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Uganda vs Sudan
Zimbabwe vs Lesotho
Zambia vs Mozambique
South Africa vs Angola
Ghana vs Cote d'Ivoire
Niger vs Togo
Nigeria vs Burkina Faso
Congo DR vs CAR
Cameroon vs Congo
Chad vs Gabon
Mali vs Mauritania
Burundi vs Ethiopia
Guinea vs Senegal
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