The Confederation of African Football (CAF) recently received several requests from the qualified teams taking part in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2018 to postpone the AFCON qualifiers originally scheduled to take place in March, in order to allow them to play friendly matches to serve as part of their preparations.
The CAF Executive Committee held a meeting on the 20th of November that approved this request and have communicated the new fixture schedule to all participating teams. This means that the Scorpions home encounter against Algeria will not take place in March 2018, but instead in September 2018.
AFCON Qualifiers Group D – Updated Fixtures
10th June 2017 – Benin 1 – 0 The Gambia (away)
3-11 September 2018 – The Gambia vs Algeria (home)
8-16 October 2018 – Togo vs The Gambia (away)
8-16 October 2018 – The Gambia vs Togo (home)
12-20 November 2018 – The Gambia vs Benin (home)
18-26 March 2019 – Algeria vs The Gambia (away)
19-27 March 2018 remains a FIFA date and contacts have already been established to ensure that friendly matches are played in order to continue the preparations for the encounters that will now take place in the second half of 2018.
With the next AFCON being held in June 2019, the qualifying campaign will now conclude in March 2019.
