The seventh edition of the Futsal Africa Cup of Nations will kick off this evening in Rabat, Morocco.
Eight teams will compete for the coveted trophy as well as qualification for the FIFA Futsal World Cup to be hosted by Uzbekistan.
Two venues, Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah and Salle IBN Yassine, will be used for the tournament, which runs from April 11 to 21, 2024.
Morocco has dominated the previous two editions of the Futsal Africa Cup. They are expected to be the frontrunners but will face stiff competition from Libya, Angola, and record-holder Egypt.
Namibia and Mauritania are the two debutants in this year’s tournament.
Hosts and defending champions Morocco are in Group A alongside 2020 bronze medalists Angola, Zambia, and Ghana, who are making their second appearance after missing a couple of editions.
Zambia’s coach targets world cup spot
Zambia will open their campaign against Ghana at 19:00 CAT at the Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah. Their second match will be against group favourites Morocco before facing Angola at 22:00 CAT.
Zambia’s coach, Andrea Cristoforetti, has said the team’s primary target is to qualify for the World Cup.
“Our ambition is to fight for a position at the World Cup,” he told a pre-match press conference today.
He continued: “But that can only happen if we do the process, which is this competition. There will be no World Cup if we don’t play with the right attitude…… And right understanding of this game during the competition so for sure we need to win two games and seeing that Morocco will be really difficult we are left with the other two games; my final will be against Ghana then think about Morocco later.”
Zambia has never reached the World Cup finals. They did come very close in 2016, losing 5-4 to Egypt in the AFCON semi-finals and on penalties to Mozambique in the third-place play-off.
Meanwhile, three-time winner Egypt headlines Group B, which features the two debutants, Namibia and Mauritania, and former champion Libya.
They will open their title adventure with a tricky fixture against 2008 champions Libya on Friday at 19:00 CAT at the Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah.
Debutants Mauritania and Namibia will clash in the second fixture of the day at 22:00 CAT.
The top three teams will gain automatic qualification for this World Cup. The tournament will kick off on September 14 to October 6, 2024.
READ MORE: Facts about the Zambia Futsal national team’s qualification for the AFCON
