Kwasi Appiah’s Sudan paired against Black Stars in 2025 AFCON qualifiers

Ex-Ghana coach James Kwasi Appiah is set for a homecoming after Sudan were paired against the Black Stars in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

Both teams were drawn in Group F, alongside Angola and Niger, during Thursday’s draw in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The outcome of the draw means Appiah will be facing his home country twice, as he aims to guide Sudan to qualify for the AFCON.

Appiah has chalked some impressive results since being hired as the head coach of the Sudan national team in September 2023.

Kwasi Appiah set for homecoming against Black Stars

The Secretarybirds have lost just once in eight matches since he took charge, while they also currently sit at the top of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, ahead of Senegal.

Sudan would, therefore, pose a threat to Ghana, who also won both of the World Cup qualifying matches last month.

Otto Addo’s side was seeded in Pot 1 as one of the 12 highest-ranked teams on the continent, alongside hosts Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, South Africa and DR Congo.

The draw, however, saw Ghana picked in Group F and they will now have to battle against Angola, Sudan and Niger to qualify for next year’s tournament in Morocco.

Meanwhile, the draw saw 48 teams drawn into 12 groups of four teams each, with the top two of every group set to qualify for the AFCON.

Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal find out group opponents for AFCON qualifiers

Group A contains Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros and Gambia, while Group B is made up of hosts Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic (CAR) and Lesotho.

Group C has Egypt, Mauritania, Cape Verde and Botswana, with Group D also made up of Nigeria, Benin, Libya and Rwanda.

There’s also Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and Liberia in Group E and AFCON defending champions Ivory Coast, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Chad in Group G.

Five-time AFCON winners Cameroon are paired against Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, while South Africa will also have to navigate their way past a group that contains Uganda, Congo and South Sudan.

Senegal’s quest to reclaim their AFCON title would also be tested when they take on Burkina Faso, Malawi and Burundi in Group L of the qualifiers.

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