Zim Warriors to play Nigeria…2019 Afcon draw group pots

The Zimbabwe men’s football team “The Warriors” are set to play the Super Eagles of Nigeria and two other high-profile teams in friendly matches as part of their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals preparations.

Sources say the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had sounded their Zifa counterparts with an offer of the preparatory match to be played in Lagos next month.

It is claimed that Nigeria has also offered a three-week training camp for the Warriors in Lagos ahead of the Afcon finals set to kick off on June 21 in Egypt.

This year’s edition will be expanded from 16 to 24 teams and the Warriors will know their group opponents when the draw takes place in Egypt on Friday next week.

The 24 teams are seeded into four pots, based on the CAF national team rankings. They will be drawn into six groups of four teams. The hosts Egypt will be seeded in Group A.

The top two teams of each group, along with the best four third-placed teams, advance to the round of 16.

2019 Afcon draw seeding

Pot 1: Egypt (hosts, assigned to A1), Cameroon (title holders), Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Senegal
Pot 2: Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Guinea, Mali, DR Congo
Pot 3: Uganda, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Angola, Burundi
Pot 4: Mauritania, Namibia, Benin, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania

newsday