CHAN preliminary qualifiers wrap up this weekend

The preliminary round of qualification for the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) will be completed this weekend with 12 second-leg fixtures set to be played across the continent.

While there will be no action in the Northern Zone, Zone West B and the Central Zone, the Central-East Zone, Zone West A and the Southern Zone will all be busy with preliminary round action that will decide the final pairings for qualification.

Only players who are based in their nation’s domestic championships are eligible to take part in the CHAN competition.

In Zone West A, Guinea and Senegal face tricky trips to Liberia and Gambia respectively, but they both hold a 3-1 lead from the first leg matches last month, while Mali will be looking to break their 1-1 tie with Guinea-Bissau when they play host this weekend.

The highlight of the Central-East Zone will probably be Kenya looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit when they host traditional rivals Ethiopia, while Burundi and Uganda will be confident of advancing as they host Djibouti and Tanzania with first leg leads of 2-1 and 3-0 respectively.

The busiest section is the Southern Zone, where Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa all look highly likely to advance as they head to respective away matches against Comoros, Seychelles and Mauritius with strong first leg leads that are unlikely to be overturned.

However, the ties featuring Botswana-Lesotho, Angola-Swaziland and Zambia-Namibia are all delicately poised. The first had 0-0 and 2-2 draws in their respective first leg matches, while Chipolopolo will be looking to come back from 2-1 down at home against the reigning Cosafa Cup champions.

CHAN QUALIFIERS, WEEKEND FIXTURES
First leg scores in parenthesis

Northern Zone
No matches this weekend, group stage continues on 13-17 August

Zone West A
Mali v Guinea-Bissau (1-1)
Liberia v Guinea (1-3)
Gambia v Senegal (1-3)
Mauritania v Sierra Leone completed on June 27, Mauritania won 4-1 on aggregate

Zone West B
No matches this weekend, first round begins on 16-18 October

Central Zone
No matches this weekend, first round begins on 16-18 October

Central-East Zone
Uganda v Tanzania (3-0)
Burundi v Djibouti (2-1)
Kenya v Ethiopia (0-2)

Southern Zone
Comoros v Zimbabwe (0-2)
Botswana v Lesotho (0-0)
Zambia v Namibia (1-2)
Seychelles v Mozambique (1-5)
Mauritius v South Africa (0-3)
Angola v Swaziland (2-2)