Official: CAF Grants the Request of NFF President for a Free International Window

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have confirmed the new dates for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which were initially scheduled to take place in March next year.

It was reported that CAF granted a request of Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick to have the second round AFCON qualification postponed in order to accomodate the five continental representatives at next year's FIFA World Cup.

The next round of fixtures will now be played during the FIFA week of 3-11 September 2018, with the initial dates in March now to be used for friendly internationals.

Round three and four will be played between 8-16 October 2018, with matchday five scheduled for November 12–20.
The final round will be staged in March 2019, with the final event, which has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams, set to take place June 2019 in Cameroon.

Super Eagles are currently on zero point after the first round of qualifiers, which kicked off in June this year, having lost 2-0 in Uyo to South Africa. They will next face Seychelles in Group E, A team that lost 4-0 in their opening tie this year, in September next year.

New dates for the qualifiers:

■ Match Day 2: 3-11 September 2018

■ Match Day 3 & 4: 8 – 16 October 2018

■ Match Day 5: 12 – 20 November 2018

■ Match Day 6: 18 – 26 March 2019