Matches played 144 | Goals scored 363 (2.52 per match) | |
 | ||
Dates 12 June 2015 – 4 September 2016 Teams 51 (from 1 confederation) Top scorer(s) El Arabi Hillel Soudani (7 goals) | ||
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football championship of Africa. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Gabon who qualified automatically as hosts.
Contents
Draw
A total of 52 teams entered the tournament, including the hosts (Gabon) which qualified automatically for the final tournament. The draw for the qualification stage took place on 8 April 2015, immediately after the announcement of the host nation, originally scheduled at 12:30 UTC+2 at the Marriott ‘Zamalek’ Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, but delayed to 15:00. The host nation team (Gabon) was also drawn into a group and played games against those in that group; however, these matches were only be considered as friendlies and not counted for the standings.
Due to the cancellation of Morocco being hosts of the 2015 edition, the national team of Morocco were originally banned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to enter the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cups of Nations. However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing Morocco to enter the tournament.
Seeding
For seeding, the teams were ranked using CAF's own system which were calculated based on the team's performance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament, the three most recent editions the Africa Cup of Nations, and their qualifying campaigns.
Procedure
The draw procedure is as follows:
Format
There were thirteen groups, twelve with four teams and one with three teams (plus the host nation which play friendlies with the three teams). The group winners and two best overall runners-up qualified for the tournament. When determining the best runners-up, the group of the host nation (where only matches between three teams were counted for the standings) was not considered, as well as any group where only three teams were left due to withdrawal of one team.
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:
- Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
- Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
- Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
- Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
- If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply;
- Goal difference in all games;
- Goals scored in all games;
- Away goals scored in all games;
- Drawing of lots.
Schedule
The qualifiers started with the first matches played in the FIFA international dates of 8–16 June 2015.
Group I
Ranking of second-placed teams
Only groups with four teams are considered for this ranking. Therefore, Group I is not considered, as well as Group G where only three teams are left due to the withdrawal of one team.
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the tournament.