Just over a month from the previous edition, qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations gets underway this week, with Somalia taking Eswatini in the first leg of the preliminary round on Wednesday evening.
The preliminary round has four ties, featuring eight of lowest-ranked teams in the region, and they will face off home-and-away, with the winners progressing to the group stage qualifiers that are scheduled to start in September this year.
Match preview
These two sides also met in the preliminary round of the 2023 AFCON, which Eswatini won 5-1 on aggregate to book their place in the Group B of the competition alongside Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and Togo.
Unfortunately, despite a spirited effort, Sihlangu Semnikati were unable to progress to the main draw as they ended bottom of their qualification group with three points, failing to win any of their six matches (W0 D3 L3).
At 149th according to FIFA rankings, Eswatini are the highest-ranked of the eight teams that will contest the preliminary rounds and are the bookmakers' early favourites to reach the group-stage qualifiers.
While Dominic Kunene's side did reach the COSAFA Cup quarter-finals last year, their overall record remains relatively poor, with just one win in their last 15 matches in all competitions, including defeats in both of their 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November last year.
Meanwhile, Somalia head into these qualifiers ranked 198th according to the most recent FIFA rankings, making them the 13th lowest-ranked side in the world and the second-lowest in the CAF region, only ahead of Seychelles, who have been excluded from the competition, and unranked Eritrea.
While the team has improved its world ranking over the last few years, there remains much work to be done to rejuvenate football in the country, though real progress will rely heavily on their ability to qualify for major continental and world competitions such as this one.
The Ocean Stars have yet to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations or the FIFA World Cup, but they have participated in numerous qualifying matches in both tournaments, with their first-ever victory in a World Cup qualifier coming in September 2019, when they defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 in the first leg encounter.
Somalia have had limited game time in recent years, and their performance in the few matches played have been underwhelming, suffering defeats in all four games in 2023, including losses in their World Cup qualifiers, falling 3-1 to Algeria and 1-0 against Uganda last November.
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Team News
Greenville Triumph defender Hassan Gabo will be in line to receive his first taste of AFCON qualification following his call-up to the senior side ahead of their World Cup qualifiers back in November.
Cavalry's Ali Musse and Orlando City defender Abdi Salim also received call-ups and are expected to be in contention for spots in the starting 11; the latter was an unused substitute in the side's World Cup qualifiers against Algeria.
For Eswatini, four new players were included in the senior side selection by Kunene, including Innocent and Xolani Dlamini, Nkosingiphile Shongwe and Joseph Kibongi, all of whom are in contention for a place in the matchday squad.
Among the notable absentees for this week's trip to Morocco include Sandile Gamedze, who was dropped due to criminal allegations against him. Mthokozisi Gwebu, Mzwandile Mabelesa, Samkelo Ginindza and Xolani Gama have also been left out of the travelling squad.
Somalia possible starting lineup:
Yusuf; Mohamed; Elmi, Ismail, Ibrahim; Jama, Abdi, Ilyas, Ahmed; Hassan, Abatari
Eswatini possible starting lineup:
Shabalala; Manana, Mabelesa, Silenge, Thwala; Matsa, Mkhonto, Ndzinisa, Ginindiza, Matsebula; Magagula
We say: Somalia 0-2 Eswatini
While both these sides reside in the lower echelons of the region's rankings, Eswatini have played significantly more football in recent times and have managed a few notable results, including holding Burkina Faso and South Africa to draws while beating Namibia all within the last year. We feel they will be too good for Somalia in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
