Bafana Bafana are likely to receive a tough draw for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations following the allotment of pots on Thursday.
South Africa were allocated to Pot 3, with the 24 sides divided up according to the latest Fifa rankings, with the final draw scheduled for Friday.
Stuart Baxter’s team have Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Madagascar and Kenya alongside them in Pot 3, which means that they would not be regarded among the likely top two countries in their group.
The seedings saw heavyweights Egypt – the hosts – defending champions Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria and Morocco in Pot 1.
In Pot 2, DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Algeria made up the seedings.
The lowest-ranked sides made up Pot 4 – Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Tanzania and Burundi.
Baxter and his side, though, will be undaunted about possibly getting Nigeria again, after the South Africans won 2-0 away, and drew 1-1 at home in the qualifiers.
Namibia’s coach Ricardo Manetti, though, told the Caf website: “I want to avoid the Egyptian team. It would be difficult to play against the Pharaohs in front of their audience.”
Kenya’s coach Sebastien Minier added: “We want to prove that we deserve to be there”, while Nicolas Dupuis, coach of Madagascar – who are in their first Afcon – said: “Egypt is home, but there is also Senegal, which is the best team at the moment.
“Cote d’Ivoire has always impressed me, not to mention Herve Renard’s Morocco or Nigeria.”
Seedings For Afcon Draw
Pot 1: Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco
Pot 2: DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Algeria
Pot 3: South Africa, Uganda, Benin, Mauritania, Madagascar, Kenya
Pot 4: Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Tanzania, Burundi
Create the six groups of #TotalAFCON2019 using Emojis. GO! 👇 pic.twitter.com/hS7y05vOz6
— CAF (@CAF_Online) April 11, 2019
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