African champions Senegal were handed a regulation draw for the Africa Cup of Nations group qualifiers that kick off in June.
They were paired with Benin, Mozambique and Rwanda in Group L in the draw conducted, with the top two finishers qualifying for next year’s finals in the Ivory Coast.
Egypt, runners-up at the last edition in February, also looks to have a comfortable path to a record 26th finals appearance in Group D, where they are up against Ethiopia, Guinea and Malawi.
Guinea, the best-ranked team among Egypt’s opponents, are likely to be their biggest challengers for top spot.
They reached the Nations Cup round of 16 in the last two editions and last met Egypt in a friendly in June 2019, which they lost 3-1 in a warm-up for the biennial tournament.
Malawi also improved of late, having booked a last-16 berth at the Nations Cup in Cameroon earlier this year before narrowly losing 2-1 to pre-tournament favorites Morocco.
Kenya and Zimbabwe were included in yesterday’s draw despite Fifa suspensions but will be kicked out of the qualifiers if their respective football association officials are not restored to their posts before the matches start in two months’ time
However those FAs are unlikely to be reinstated by world soccer’s governing body as their governments have taken strong action against officials they accuse of corruption.
The groups in which Kenya and Zimbabwe were drawn are therefore set to be left with only three teams.