The qualification phase for the 2014 African Nations Championship was played from November 2012 to August 2013. Qualification was divided into the CAF Regional Zones. Each zone had either two or three teams that qualified for the final tournament in South Africa.
Qualification zones ZoneNumber of participating teamsNumber of qualifying teamsNumber of teams not enteredNorth Zone421 (Egypt)Zone West A623 (Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau)Zone West B730Central Zone533 (Chad, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé & Príncipe)Central-East Zone833 (Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan)Southern Zone11 (including hosts South Africa)3 (including hosts South Africa)3 (Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi)Total411613
North Zone
First round The two winners of the first round qualify for the final tournament.Fixtures. Preliminaries CAF Online Algeria withdrew due to poor squad standards.
Zone West A
Preliminary round The two preliminary round winners qualify for the first round. Mali and Senegal receive a bye and advance directly to the first round.
First round The two winners of the first round qualify for the final tournament.
Zone West B
Preliminary round The preliminary round winner qualify for the first round. Ghana, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Benin receive a bye and advance directly to the first round.
First round The 3 winners of the first round qualify for the final tournament. Benin withdrew from the tournament for financial reasons.
Nigeria withdrew due to financial constraints on 11 April 2013, but one month later they confirmed their participation.
Central Zone
Preliminary round The preliminary round winner qualify for the first round. DR Congo, Cameroon and Gabon receive a bye and advance directly to the first round.
Central African Republic withdrew. Game was awarded 3–0 to Congo.
First round The two winners of the first round qualify for the final tournament. The two losers of the first round qualify for the second round.
Second round The winner of the second round qualify for the final tournament.
Central-East Zone
Preliminary round The two preliminary round winners qualify for the first round. Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania receive a bye and advance directly to the first round.
Eritrea withdrew on December 5, 2012. Game was awarded 3–0 to Ethiopia.
First round The 3 winners of the first round qualify for the final tournament.
Southern Zone
Preliminary round The two preliminary round winners qualify for the first round. Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe receive a bye and advance directly to the first round. Note: Mozambique was not included in the initial draw published by CAF on June 9, 2012,Fixtures CAF Online and Seychelles was supposed to also receive a bye and advance directly to the first round, but then Mozambique was included to play a preliminary round against Seychelles, the qualifier taking the spot in the first round which was firstly drawn for Seychelles (vs. Namibia).
First round The 4 winners of the first round qualify for the second round.
Second round The two winners of the second round qualify for the final tournament, along with hosts South Africa.
Qualified teams TeamQualification North Zone Automatic Defeated Zone West A Defeated Defeated Zone West B Automatic Defeated Defeated Central Zone Defeated Defeated Defeated Central-East Zone Defeated Defeated Defeated Southern Zone Hosts Defeated Defeated
References