14 October 2019 – Sao Tome e Principe is through to the group stages of the qualifiers for the 33rdEdition of the Total Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 and will face Bafana Bafana, Ghana and Sudan in Group C.
Sao Tome e Principe earned a historic victory over Mauritius – winning 3-1 in first round of the preliminary stage, and followed it up with a 2-1 victory in the second leg for a 5-2 aggregate.
Sao Tome is ranked 190thin the world and play their home matches at the Estadio Nacional 12 de Julho, which is a 6500 seater venue.
The 48 remaining teams have been divided into 12 groups of four teams each and the top two sides from each group will earn a ticket to the 2021 showpiece in Cameroon.
Bafana Bafana kickstart their campaign with an away trip Ghana on Friday, 15 November in Kumasi, and will then host Sudan four days later (Tuesday, 19 November 2019) at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The 2021 AFCON qualifiers will then take a nine month break.
When the competition resumes in 2020, South Africa will play back to back matches against Sao Tome on the week of 31 August and 8 on a home and away basis.
In October 2020 Bafana Bafana will host Ghana and in the final match of the qualifiers in November, Molefi Ntseki’s charges will travel to Sudan.
Hosts Cameroon have an automatic spot in the tournament, but will take part to gain competitive match practice – this means Cape Verde, Mozambique and Rwanda will contest the available two spots in Group F.
Of the 54 members countries of CAF, only Eritrea and Somalia did not enter the competition.
Bafana Bafana 2021 AFCON qualifiers:
15 November 2019
Ghana vs South Africa (a)
19 November 2019
South Africa vs Sudan (h)
4 September 2020
South Africa vs Sao Tome e Principe (h)
8 September 2020
Sao Tome e Principe vs South Africa (a)
10 October 2020
South Africa vs Ghana (h)
13 November 2020
Sudan vs South Africa (a)
CONFIRMED GROUPS FOR CAMEROON 2021 AFCON QUALIFIERS:
Group A: Mali, Guinea, Namibia, Chad.
Group B: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Malawi, South Sudan
Group C: Ghana, South Africa, Sudan, Sao Tome
Group D: DR Congo, Gabon, Angola, The Gambia
Group E: Morocco, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Burundi
Group F: Cameroon (Q), Cape Verde, Mozambique, Rwanda
Group G: Egypt, Kenya, Togo, Comoros
Group H: Algeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana
Group I: Senegal, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, eSwatini
Group J: Tunisia, Libya, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea
Group K: Ivory Coast, Niger, Madagascar, Ethiopia
Group L: Nigeria, Benin, Sierra Leone, Lesotho