AFCON Egypt 2019: Mauritania, Madagascar and Burundi, three new countries among the 24 qualified

Mauritania (101^st in the FIFA ranking), Madagascar (107^th) and Burundi (138^th) are the three countries that will participate for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations, during the 39^th edition of the tournament that will be held in Egypt from 21/06 to 19/07/2019.

Burkina Faso, Gabon, Togo and Zambia, on the other hand, will be the main absentees from AFCON 2019, the first edition with 24 participants instead of 16, the draw for which is scheduled to take place at the foot of the Pyramids of Giza, near Cairo (EGY), on 12/04/2019.

The 24 qualified countries are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The Egyptian Football Association replaced the Cameroonian Football Federation to hold the AFCON 2019, following a vote at the CAF executive committee meeting in Dakar (Senegal) on 08/01/2019. The African Confederation decided on 30/11/2018 that the competition would not take place in Cameroon, as…