Black Meteors get new opponents for U23 AFCON qualifier after DR Congo was disqualified

Ghana will play either Ethiopia or Algeria in the 3rd and last Round of qualifiers for the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

This is after the Disciplinary Board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) disqualified DR Congo from the qualifiers for fielding an unqualified player in matches against Ethiopia and Algeria.

DR Congo was supposed to play against Ghana in the 3rd and last round of the qualifiers. But the Disciplinary Board’s decision means Ethiopia & Algeria shall play a play-off round from home & away matches and the winner will play against Ghana in the 3rd round.

The first leg is scheduled for 8 to 9 March while the second leg takes place on the weekend of 12 to 13, March

The first match will be played in Ethiopia (the team eliminated from the 1st round) and the second match will be played in Algeria (the team eliminated from the 2nd round).

The winner of Ethiopia/Algeria will play against Ghana in the dates scheduled for the 3rd round of the qualifiers.

The next edition of the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations will take place in Morocco.

Same as previous editions, the tournament served as African qualifying for the Olympic football tournament with the top three teams of the tournament qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympic men’s football tournament in Paris the fourth place team will play the AFC-CAF playoffs to decide the final slot to the Olympics.

Egypt are the defending champions.