13 of the 14 teams to join the 16 finalists of 2012 AFCON for the third round qualifiers for the 2013 AFCON are now known.

The weekend was a busy one in stadiums across Africa with the qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations to take place in South Africa. Most of the heavyweights absent from the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea clinched spots in the third rou: d qualifiers for the 2013 AFCON which will include the 16 finalists at the 2012 AFCON. Nigeria beat Rwanda 2-0 in the second leg after both sides separated on a virgin draw in the first leg. Nigeria therefore sails through 2-0 on aggregate. While Cameroon beat Guinea Bissau on an identical 1-0 score on both home and away basis, to move to the last round qualifiers 2-0 on aggregate. Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo also sealed third round qualifier spots with victories against Gambia and Seychelles respectively.

The 13 qualified countries are as follows; Algeria, Benin, Cameroun, Cap Verde, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, D.R. Congo, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe. Attention is now focused on the Central Africa-Egypt encounter coming up on June 30, to complete the list of 14 teams that will face the 16 finalists of the last nation’s cup. Central Africa Republic stunned Egypt with a 3-2 defeat in front of their home crowd in Cairo. The return leg in Bangui therefore promises to be full of fireworks as the six times African champion, Egypt will be fighting frantically not to miss their second Africa Cup of Nations in a row. The third and last round qualifiers will be played over two legs on 7-9 September and 12-14 October to decide the 15 finalists who will be joining hosts South Africa in the 2013 finals.