The draw for the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be conducted at the Aida ballroom, Cairo Marriott Hotel, Zamalek in Egypt on July 18^th.

South Sudan have been placed in Pot 5 alongside; Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, Chad, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles and Djibouti.

The teams have been seeded in 5 levels according to the FIFA ranking as per June 14^th. South Sudan will start the campaign in the preliminary round. Eritrea and Somalia did not enter the competition.

According to CAF the eight Pot 5 teams will be drawn into four pairings and the winners of the two-leg ties advance to stage 2 as part of Pot 4. Stage 2 will see 12 groups comprising of one team from Pots 1-4 and the section winners and runners-up qualify for the finals. Hosts Cameroon are guaranteed a place so only one other team qualify from their group. 

After Cameroon was stripped off hosting the 2019 AFCON and awarded to Egypt, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Cameroon will now host the 2021 AFCON. 

Seedings

Pot 1: Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon (hosts), Egypt, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Algeria

Pot 2: Guinea, South Africa, Cape Verde, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Mauritania, Niger, Kenya, Libya

Pot 3: Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Malawi, Togo, Sudan, Tanzania

Pot 4: Burundi, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, Botswana, Comoros, Ethiopia and four preliminary-round winners

Pot 5: Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, South Sudan, Chad, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Djibouti