The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) 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.[1]
Draw
A total of 52 teams entered the tournament, including the hosts (Gabon) 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,[2] originally scheduled at 12:30 UTC+2 at the Marriott ‘Zamalek’ Hotel in Cairo, Egypt,[3] but delayed to 15:00.[4] The host nation team (Gabon) 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.
Morocco had sought to postpone the tournament because of the outbreak of Ebola in Africa but their request was rejected by CAF.[6]
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.[7][8]
The hosts are placed in its own Pot X. A drawing of lots determines which group the hosts are "drawn" to play friendlies against (meaning this group in effect only has three teams).
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 (where the host had already been "drawn" into), containing one team.
Format
There were thirteen groups, twelve with four teams and one with three teams (plus the host nation which played friendlies with the three teams). The group winners and two best overall runners-up qualified for the tournament.[2] When determining the best runners-up, the group of the host nation (where only matches between three teams were counted for the standings) was not considered, as well as any group where only three teams were left due to withdrawal of one team.[2]
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[10]
Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
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;
^On 27 March 2016, it was announced that Chad had withdrawn from the competition on financial grounds.[12][13] At that point, Chad had played three matches, and all results were annulled and not taken into consideration according to the regulations. Moreover, the runners-up were not eligible to qualify as one of the two group runners-up with the best records.
Gabon 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.
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.[2]
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