2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification


The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football championship of Africa. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Gabon who qualified automatically as hosts.

Draw

A total of 52 teams entered the tournament, including the hosts which qualified automatically for the final tournament. The draw for the qualification stage took place on 8 April 2015, immediately after the announcement of the host nation, originally scheduled at 12:30 UTC+2 at the Marriott ‘Zamalek’ Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, but delayed to 15:00. The host nation team was also drawn into a group and played games against teams in that group; however, these matches were only considered as friendlies and not counted for the standings.
Due to the cancellation of Morocco being hosts of the 2015 edition, the national team of Morocco were originally banned by the Confederation of African Football to enter the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cups of Nations. However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing Morocco to enter the tournament.
Morocco had sought to postpone the tournament because of the outbreak of Ebola in Africa but their request was rejected by CAF.

Seeding

For seeding, the teams were ranked using CAF's own system which were calculated based on the team's performance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament, the three most recent editions the Africa Cup of Nations, and their qualifying campaigns.
;Non-participants

Procedure

The draw procedure is as follows:
  • The hosts are placed in its own Pot X. A drawing of lots determines which group the hosts are "drawn" to play friendlies against.
  • The 13 teams in Pot [|1] are drawn, with each group containing one team.
  • The 13 teams in Pot 2 are drawn, with each group containing one team.
  • The 13 teams in Pot 3 are drawn, with each group containing one team.
  • The 12 teams in Pot 4 are drawn, with each group, except the one with only three teams, containing one team.

Format

There were thirteen groups, twelve with four teams and one with three teams. The group winners and two best overall runners-up qualified for the tournament. When determining the best runners-up, the group of the host nation was not considered, as well as any group where only three teams were left due to withdrawal of one team.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points. If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:
  1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
  3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  4. Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply;
  6. Goal difference in all games;
  7. Goals scored in all games;
  8. Away goals scored in all games;
  9. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

The qualifiers started with the first matches played in the FIFA international dates of 8–16 June 2015.
MatchdayDate
Matchday 112–14 June 2015
Matchday 24–6 September 2015
Matchday 323–26 March 2016
Matchday 427–29 March 2016
Matchday 53–5 June 2016
Matchday 62–4 September 2016

Groups

Group H

Group I

  • was also drawn into this group and played against the other three teams in the group; however, those matches were only considered friendlies and did not count for the standings.

Ranking of second-placed teams

Only groups with four teams were considered for this ranking. Therefore, Group I was not considered, as well as Group G, where only three teams were left due to the withdrawal of one team.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.
TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament1

Goalscorers

;7 goals
;6 goals
;5 goals
;4 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal