South Africa’s Amajita sealed their place in next year’s competition in fine style, overcoming neighbours Lesotho 5-0 on aggregate following their 3-0 home win on Saturday.
One of the biggest surprises was Sudan’s 5-5 away goals win over defending champions Nigeria, who were beaten 4-3 at home over the weekend, while Ghana also miss out, going down 3-2 on aggregate to Senegal.
Egypt comfortably sealed their spot with a 5-0 aggregate win over Angola, joining Zambia as the five teams to have booked their place by Saturday evening, with three deciders scheduled for Sunday.
Cameroon, holding a 3-0 home leg advantage over Libya, succumbed 1-0 to their opponents, yet still progressed on aggregate, while it was all to play for in the Guinea-Gambia and Mali-Burkina Faso showdowns, with both aggregate scores sitting at 0-0. Guinea emerged 2-1 winners at home, while Mali were 2-0 victors as the duo ensured their safe passage through to next year’s continental showpiece.
The eight qualified teams will fight it out in two pools of four teams in Zambia, with the tournament scheduled to take place for 26 February to 12 March.
The top two teams from each pool qualify for the semi-finals, with all semi-finalists earning their participation at the 2017 World Cup in Korea Republic later in the year.