Ghana have been handed a Benin hurdle to clear before potentially setting up a ticket decider with rivals Nigeria in the qualifiers to the 2023 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament.
A draw for the qualifiers to determine the finalists for Algeria 2023 – which will be played on a zonal basis – was held in Cairo Thursday morning.
The inaugural edition of the continental tournament designed exclusively for footballers based in their own domestic leagues had 8 teams participating. The numbers later doubled and now starting with Algeria 2023, the CHAN will have 18 finalists including the host nation.
The 18 teams will be drawn into five groups – three groups of four and two groups of three for the Championship scheduled for January 8-31, 2023.
17 spots are up to be battled for with Ghana having to navigate its way through a tough Wafu Zone-B pool consisting of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.
Due to Ghana’s recent poor outings – failing to qualify for the last three CHAN tournaments, the home-based Black Stars will start their chase for one of three slots for Wafu Zone B against another lowly-ranked side in Benin in the only tie in Round 1.
Ghana will host Benin in the first leg scheduled for the weekend of July 22-24. The second leg comes off the following weekend – July 29-31.
The aggregate winner then advances to face Nigeria for a ticket to the 2022 CHAN.
Ivory Coast ?? vs Burkina Faso ?? and Togo ?? vs Niger ?? complete the Round 2 pairings for the zone.
This round will also be played on August 26-28 for the first leg and September 2-4 for the reverse.
