April 1, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
The journey for places to the 20th edition of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Zambia 2017 commences this weekend with first leg matches of the First Round.
Twenty (20) teams will be involved in the opening round, with eyes on places in the Second Round and eventually the final lap, where seven teams will emerge to join host Zambia for the final tournament next year.
North African giants, Tunisia, and Nigeria have home ties against Niger and Mauritania respectively, whilst Ethiopia and Rwanda host neighbours Somalia and Uganda respectively in a battle of teams from the CECAFA region.
The West Africa zone also features derbies between Sierra Leone and Gambia and Liberia against Guinea.
The second leg matches will take place on the weekend of 22-24 April 2016.
Reigning champions Nigeria and the likes of Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire and Egypt drew a bye in the First Round.
The rest of the teams are Gabon, Ghana, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.
Fixtures
Friday, 1 April 2016
Tunisia vs Niger
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Sierra Leone vs Gambia
Rwanda vs Uganda
Mozambique vs Mauritius
Swaziland vs Namibia
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Liberia vs Guinea
Algeria vs Mauritania
Sudan vs Kenya
Zimbabwe vs Botswana
Ethiopia vs Somalia
Credit: CAF