2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification


The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification is the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country.

Qualified nations

CountryQualified by winning againstQualification datePrevious appearances in tournament†
00Hosts0028 September 20117
00Malawi0113 October 201218
00Botswana0113 October 20127
00Uganda0113 October 201215
00Liberia0113 October 201216
00Sierra Leone0113 October 201215
00Senegal0113 October 201219
00Mozambique0113 October 201214
00Sudan0214 October 20129
00Cameroon0214 October 20120
00Zimbabwe0214 October 20126
00Guinea0214 October 20121
00Gabon0214 October 20126
00Equatorial Guinea0214 October 201215
00Central African Rep.0214 October 20128
00Libya0214 October 201214

Format

A total of 47 countries entered the competition, including South Africa, which automatically qualified.
The remaining 46 teams competed in the qualifiers. In each of the three rounds, teams were drawn into two-legged home-and-away knock-out ties. Aggregate goals are used to determine the winner. If the sides are level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still level, the tie proceeds directly to a penalty shootout.
The 15 winners of the second round qualified for the finals.
The draw for the preliminary round and the first round was made on 28 October 2011 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The draw for the second round was made on 5 July 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa, after the first round was completed.
Below is the list of entrants:
;Notes

Seeding

The 30 teams which qualified for the second round were ranked based on their performances during the last three Africa Cup of Nations, i.e. the 2008, 2010, and 2012 editions. For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:
ClassificationPoints awarded
Winner7
Runner-up5
Losing semi-finalists3
Losing quarter-finalists2
Eliminated in 1st round1

Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:
If two countries are equal in the number of points in the above classification the number of points that they have accumulated throughout all their matches played in the last 3 final tournaments of the CAN determined their ranking.
The teams were divided into two pots based on the ranking. Each tie contained one team from each pot. The order of legs for each tie was determined by draw.
Pot 1Pot 2

Matches

;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal