Preliminary competition will be divided in three rounds. First two rounds will be knock-out rounds, and the final round will be a group stage.
Contents
First round
First leg played on September 1 to September 3, 2006. Second leg played on October 6 to October 8, 2006.
* = withdrewSecond round
First leg played on February 7 and February 8, 2007. Second leg played on March 23 to March 25, 2007.
* = Congo DR failed to appear, and blamed poor flight connections. FIFA handed walkover to Senegal.
Burkina Faso penalized by FIFA for allegedly using two overage players during first leg match against Ghana. The original score was Burkina Faso won by 2–0.
Final round
Matches played from June 1, 2007 to March 26, 2008. The winner of each group will represent Africa at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Group A
Note - Ethiopia has apparently withdrawn from Olympic qualification.
June 1-June 3, 2007
Ethiopia-South Africa result expunged following Ethiopia's withdrawal.
August 22, 2007
September 7-September 9, 2007
October 12-October 13, 2007
November 16, 2007
March 26, 2008
Group B
June 1-June 3, 2007
August 22, 2007
September 7-September 9, 2007
October 12-October 13, 2007
November 16-November 18, 2007
March 26, 2008
Group C
June 1-June 3, 2007
August 22, 2007
September 7-September 9, 2007
October 12-October 13, 2007
November 16-November 18, 2007
March 26, 2008
* = Six of Botswana's players were sent off, forcing the referee to call off the game with ten minutes to go.