The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country.
Qualified nations
† Bold indicates champion for that year
† Italic indicates host
Format
A total of 47 countries entered the competition, including South Africa, which automatically qualified.
The remaining 46 teams competed in the qualifiers. In each of the three rounds, teams were drawn into two-legged home-and-away knock-out ties. Aggregate goals are used to determine the winner. If the sides are level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still level, the tie proceeds directly to a penalty shootout (no extra time is played). Preliminary round: The lowest-ranked four teams started from the preliminary round. First round: The two winners of the preliminary round joined the other 26 teams which did not qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Second round: The 14 winners of the first round joined the 16 teams which qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. The 15 winners of the second round qualified for the finals.
The draw for the preliminary round and the first round was made on 28 October 2011 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The draw for the second round was made on 5 July 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa, after the first round was completed.
Below is the list of entrants:
Notes
Togo were banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following a deadly attack on their team bus. Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Did not enter: Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Mauritania, Mauritius and Somalia. South Sudan was not able to enter as qualifying was already in progress when they became a CAF member.
Preliminary round
Originally scheduled 6–8 and 20–22 January 2012. However, the São Tomé and Príncipe v Lesotho match was postponed from 8 January to 15 January at the request of the Lesotho Football Association due to the unavailability of flights to São Tomé via Libreville.
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Notes
Note 1: Swaziland withdrew due to financial reasons. Seychelles advanced to the First round against Congo DR.
São Tomé and Príncipe won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the First round against Sierra Leone.
First round
Scheduled 29 February and 15–17 June 2012. The Central African Republic v Egypt match was postponed from 29 February to 30 June at the request of the Egyptian Football Association due to the Port Said Stadium disaster.
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Notes
Note 2: Order of legs reversed after original draw.
1–1 on aggregate. Ethiopia won on the away goals rule and advanced to the Second round.
Nigeria won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Uganda won 5–3 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
2–2 on aggregate. Zimbabwe won on the away goals rule and advanced to the Second round.
Algeria won 6–2 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
2–2 on aggregate. Togo won on the away goals rule and advanced to the Second round.
Sierra Leone won 5–4 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Cameroon won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Malawi won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Congo DR won 7–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
2–2 on aggregate. Mozambique won the penalty shootout and advanced to the Second round.
Central African Republic won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Cape Verde won 7–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Liberia won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Second round.
Second round
Seeding
The 30 teams which qualified for the second round were ranked based on their performances during the last three Africa Cup of Nations, i.e. the 2008, 2010, and 2012 editions. For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows: 2012 edition: points to be multiplied by 3 2010 edition: points to be multiplied by 2 2008 edition: points to be multiplied by 1