Uganda (Sand Cranes) will play Tanzania in the qualifiers of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers.
The first leg of the East African derby will be played between 19th and 21st July in Tanzania, while the return leg will take place between 26th and 28th July 2024 in Uganda, according to the draw conducted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday in Cairo.
The winner over the two legs will qualify for the Beach Soccer AFCON finals to be played later this year in Egypt.
Fourteen teams including; Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Guinea, Angola, Ghana, Mauritania, Tanzania, Uganda, Seychelles, Mozambique, Burundi, Malawi and Ivory Coast will battle through the qualifiers for the seven places available.
After winning their respective doubleheaders, the seven qualified teams will join Egypt who qualified automatically as hosts.
Currently sixth in Africa and 50th in the world – according to Beach Soccer World Wide rankings, Uganda will be hoping to make it to the continent’s biggest beach soccer showpiece for the third time, after featuring in the 2021 and 2022 editions in Senegal and Mozambique respectively.
During the tournament in Senegal, the Sand Cranes finished fourth after losing to Mozambique in the semi-final, and Morocco in the third place play-off. They then finished 5th in the Beach Soccer AFCON 2022 as they defeated Malawi 4-1 on penalties following a six all draw after extra time in the 5th place play-off.
Senegal are the defending champions.
Full draw:
Tanzania Vs Uganda
Guinea Vs Senegal
Angola Vs Morocco
Ghana Vs Ivory Coast
Mauritania Vs Nigeria
Seychelles Vs Mozambique
Burundi Vss Malawi