The qualification phase for the 2011 African Championship of Nations began in March 2010. These games did not count towards the FIFA rankings.

The inaugural edition of the competition featured eight teams, while this edition featured sixteen.

Qualification Zones

Qualification was divided into the CAF Zoning system. Each Zone had either two or three teams that qualified for the final tournament.

ZoneNumber of participating teamsNumber of qualifying teamsNumber of teams not entered
North Zone421 (Egypt)
Zone West A524 (Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia)
Zone West B631 (Benin)
Central Zone533 (Central African, Chad, São Tomé & Príncipe)
Central-East Zone10 (including host Sudan)3 (including host Sudan)0
Southern Zone1133 (Comoros, Lesotho, Mauritius)
Total411612

North Zone

First round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Algeria Algeria(a) 2–2Libya Libya1–01–2
Tunisia Tunisia(a) 3–3Morocco Morocco1–12–2
Algeria1–0Libya
Ghazali 48'
Libya2–1Algeria
Al Shibani 26' (pen.) Zuway 62'Hanitser 90'
Tunisia1–1Morocco
Morocco2–2Tunisia
Erbati 32' (pen.) Soulaimani 85'Khalifa 75' Meriah 83' (pen.)

Tunisia and Algeria qualify for the final tournament.

Zone West A

Preliminary round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Mauritaniaw/oSierra Leone Sierra Leone

Mauritania withdrew.

First round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Guinea Guinea1–3Mali Mali1–10–2
Senegal Senegal1–1 (4–3p)Sierra Leone Sierra Leone1–00–1
Guinea1–1Mali
Mali2–0Guinea
Senegal1–0Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone1–0Senegal
Penalties
3–4

Mali and Senegal qualify for the final tournament.

Zone West B

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Togo Togo1–6Ivory Coast Ivory Coast1–20–4
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso0–1Ghana Ghana0–00–1
Niger Niger2–0Nigeria Nigeria2–00–0
Togo1–2Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast4–0Togo
Burkina Faso0–0Ghana
Ghana1–0Burkina Faso
Niger2–0Nigeria
Nigeria0–0Niger

Ivory Coast, Ghana and Niger qualify for the final tournament.

Central Zone

Preliminary round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Congo Republic of the Congow/oEquatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea withdrew.

First round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Congo Republic of the Congo1–4Cameroon Cameroon1–10–3
Gabon Gabon2–3Democratic Republic of the Congo DR Congo1–21–1
Congo1–1Cameroon
Cameroon3–0Congo
Gabon1–2DR Congo
DR Congo1–1Gabon

Cameroon and DR Congo qualify for the final tournament.

Second round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Gabon Gabon3–0Republic of the Congo Congo3–0 *w/o
Gabon3–0 *Congo
CongoCancelledGabon
  • Congo withdrew. Match was awarded 3–0 to Gabon.

Gabon qualify for the final tournament.

Central-East Zone

Preliminary round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Djibouti Djibouti0–1Somalia SomaliaN/P0–1
SomaliaNot PlayedDjibouti
Djibouti0–1Somalia
Yusuf Osman 73'

There was only one leg played due to Somalia being unable to host international fixtures.

First round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Burundi Burundi1–5Uganda Uganda1–10–4
Ethiopia Ethiopiaw/oKenya Kenyaw/o0–3 *
Eritrea Eritreaw/oRwanda Rwandaw/o0–3 *
Somalia Somalia0–6Tanzania TanzaniaN/P0–6
Burundi1–1Uganda
Uganda4–0Burundi
EthiopiaCancelledKenya
Kenya3–0 *Ethiopia
  • Ethiopia withdrew. Match was awarded 3–0 to Kenya.
EritreaCancelledRwanda
Rwanda3–0 *Eritrea
  • Eritrea withdrew. Match was awarded 3–0 to Rwanda.
SomaliaNot PlayedTanzania
Tanzania6–0Somalia

There was only one leg played due to Somalia being unable to host international fixtures.

Second round

The Tanzania vs Rwanda match was pushed forward to May 1 due to Rwanda’s hosting of the CECAFA Kagame Cup from 15–29 May.

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Uganda Uganda(a) 2–2Kenya Kenya1–01–2
Tanzania Tanzania1–2Rwanda Rwanda1–10–1
Uganda1–0Kenya
Kenya2–1Uganda
Tanzania1–1Rwanda
Rwanda1–0Tanzania

Uganda and Rwanda qualify for the final tournament, along with host Sudan.

Southern Zone

First round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Botswana Botswana1–2South Africa South Africa0–01–2
Seychelles Seychelles2–1Namibia Namibia1–01–1
Madagascar Madagascar0–2Angola Angola0–00–2
Swaziland Eswatini1–5Zimbabwe Zimbabwe1–20–3
Malawi Malawi3–1Mozambique Mozambique3–00–1

Zambia receive bye to Second Round.

Botswana0–0South Africa
South Africa2–1Botswana
Seychelles1–0Namibia
Namibia1–1Seychelles
Madagascar0–0Angola
Angola2–0Madagascar
Swaziland1–2Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe3–0Swaziland
Malawi3–0Mozambique
Mozambique1–0Malawi

Second round

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
South Africa South Africa2–1Zambia Zambia1–01–1
Seychelles Seychelles2–6Zimbabwe Zimbabwe2–40–2
Angola Angola3–1Malawi Malawi1–12–0
South Africa1–0Zambia
Zambia1–1South Africa
Seychelles2–4Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe2–0Seychelles
Angola1–1Malawi
Santana 90'
Malawi0–2Angola

Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe qualify for the final tournament.

Qualified