Lowly ranked Burundi and Lesotho are among 23 countries chasing 11 places at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament during the final qualifying round in March.
The penultimate series of matches at the weekend ended with 13 countries, including first-time qualifiers Mauritania, securing places and former champions Zambia eliminated.
Burundi need a point at home against fellow contenders Gabon and Lesotho require a win in Cape Verde to be certain of reaching the finals of the newly-expanded 24-nation tournament in Cameroon.
The Burundian Swallows are ranked 40th and the Lesotho Crocodiles 43rd of 54 African football nations.
AFP Sport looks at the eight groups where places are up for grabs with qualifiers guaranteed at least $475,000 (415,000 euros) prize money.
Group C
While Burundi are on the rise with six-goal Fiston Abdul Razak the joint leading scorer in qualifying, Gabon have been struggling with the team’s star, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, missing matches.
The Arsenal striker did not travel to South Sudan because he was unhappy with the state of the chartered plane and an injury ruled him out of the damaging weekend home loss to Mali.
Group D
Benin are better placed than Togo and the Gambia in a three-way fight between the west African teams to join 1990 champions Algeria at the finals.
The Beninese have two points more than their rivals and will enjoy home advantage against Togo while the Gambia must win in Algeria to have a chance of finishing second.
Group E
Only a win will suffice for Libya while South Africa need one point when the teams clash to determine who goes through along with three-time champions Nigeria.
Violence in Libya in the post-Moamer Kadhafi era means Libya cannot stage the match in Tripoli and the Mediterranean city Sfax is the probable venue.
