Africa Cup Of Nations Draw On Thursday

Hosts Egypt, champions Tunisia and previous winners Nigeria and Cameroon are the top seeds at next year's African Cup of Nations.

The draw will take place on Thursday at the Giza Pyramids, on the outskirts of the capital Cairo.

DR Congo, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa are the second seeds. Ivory Coast, Togo and Ghana - all World Cup bound, as well as Guinea and Togo are in the third tier.

Libya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola - another debutant at Germany 2006 - are in the fourth pot.

Only form at the previous three tournaments in Tunisia (2004), Mali (2002) and Ghana-Nigeria (2000) were used, which is the reason the World Cup debutants did not feature highly on the list.

Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo failed to qualify for the 2004 finals with the biggest shock being the absence of four-time winners Ghana. The Black Stars have not won the African title in 23 years.

Egypt will use five venues, including the 80,000 capacity Cairo Stadium and the Military Stadium, also in the capital, for the tournament.

Concerns about some of the playing surfaces led to permission for the use of artificial turf being granted. It will be the first time, since 1982, that some games at the Cup of Nations will be staged on artificial surfaces.

The 24 group matches will be staged between 20-31 January, with the quarter-finals taking place on 3 and 4 February.

The semi-finals will be staged four days later, with the final being played on 10 February.

Seedings