Nigeria and South Africa will join Egypt and Cameroon on the outside of the Cup of Nations as they both stumbled at home, while the likes of Niger and Libya confirmed unlikely spots in the finals. AFM rounds up the drama.
Sudan coach Mohamed Abdallah tells AFM that his team are confident after a run of good results and prepared to upstage rivals Ghana in qualifying for the 2012 Cup of Nations.
AFM looks at 11 of the players who have grabbed the spotlight during qualifying for Gabon/Equatorial Guinea 2012 and are being tipped to do the same during preliminaries for Brazil 2014.
Six-time champions Al Ahly were eliminated after a nerve-shattering home draw with Esperance, while Al Hilal and Wydad Casablanca edged into the Champions League semi-finals despite failing to win.
Siphiwe Tshabalala, one of South Africa's heroes from last year's World Cup, remains a key figure for Bafana Bafana as they seek to qualify for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and begin their journey towards Brazil 2014. He talks to AFM.