The Confederation of African Football has released the system that will be used for Saturday’s Nations Cup draw in Tunis. Apart from hosts Tunisia, defending champions Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria, who lead the four groups in the first round, the remaining 12 countries have been pooled into three tiers of four teams.
Debutants Benin, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and returnees Kenya would not face each other at an early stage, as they have been put into category four, while Mali, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Guinea are in category three.
South Africa, Egypt, DR Congo and Algeria make up category two.
After lots are cast between Nigeria and Senegal to determine who leads Groups B and D (as Tunisia and Cameroon are in Groups A and C) the main draw, scheduled to commence at 1615gmt, would start in reverse.
The second team for groups A to D will be chosen from category four, the third side taken from category three, while a team from category two completes each quartet.
Caf’s arrangement means that Cameroon could be in a group with Egypt and Morocco, while Nigeria might be paired with South Africa and fellow west Africans Mali and Benin.
