All four teams stand a chance - Ramoreboli on AFCON draw

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday May 26, 2026 09:32

Uganda will qualify automatically, leaving only one space to contest for in Group H. In other groups, the top two teams qualify, except in Group D and L which have co-hosts, Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

A total of 48 teams made it to the draw which was conducted in Cairo last week.

Ramoreboli, fresh from leading the Zebras at the 2025 AFCON finals in Morocco, said there is an equal chance for all the teams to progress.

'It's between the three of us, Tunisia, Libya and ourselves. We need to make sure that we fight for points, we fight for good results. The good thing about the qualifiers is that you have three home games and three away games and most of the time, if you want to stand a chance or want to qualify, if you get more than 10 points, you are surely within the qualifying space.

'So, we need to make sure we have to fight for those points,' he said.

Ramoreboli added that there is need to give the team support and courage in order to achieve positive results. He said the draw was fair.

'You cannot choose who you want to face. At one point we played Uganda for the World Cup qualifiers, Libya is improving with the investment in their league. There is Tunisia that we played in a friendly. With us, with the mandate from the (BFA) NEC from the president (Tariq Babitseng), it will always be important to do well and qualify, but the most important thing is to make sure that we promote those young boys and prepare them for the international stage,' he said.

The coach said consistency and being competitive is key. 'For us qualifying for the 2025 AFCON finals, we have given people hope that we can do something, so there will always be that expectation and that pressure to do well. But the most important thing is to have a competitive team that will fight and compete. It is crucial to juggle between the two; have a competitive team and at the same time make sure that we promote as many as possible from the junior ranks,' Ramoreboli said.

The qualifiers will run from September 2026 to March next year. The tournament will be staged in East Africa for the first time in 51 years with 24 teams to be confirmed for the finals, to be played from June 19 to July 17, 2027.