Egypt have already qualified for the Afcon Championship to be held next year. / Photo: AP

Egypt, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Eswatini will feature in Friday's round of qualifiers for next year's Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Burkina Faso will go head-to-head with Eswatini at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco on Friday at 18:00 GMT.

Having already qualified for the 2023 Afcon, Burkina Faso heads into the encounter with a comfortable lead on points as they sit at the top of the Group B table.

Eswatini, on their part, have stumbled in the qualifiers and are ranked fourth in the group, with their ambitions of qualifying for the Afcon finals literally ending after failing to win a single match.

They are expected to put up a good fight in this encounter, but the outcome will make no difference.

Egypt however, have a fierce rivalry with Ethiopia after their last meeting ended in a 2-0 home victory in favour of Ethiopia in June 2022 in an Afcon qualifier.

Egypt have won three straight matches in the ongoing qualification campaign and have already qualified for the tournament, but they will fight to get the final laugh in this exciting encounter.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, goes into the clash knowing they will not be qualifying for the tournament but will be buoyed to repeat their victory over the Pharaohs and leave the series with a bang.

The final match will be between Group G table-toppers Mali, who have qualified for the tournament, and South Sudan, who have dropped out.

Their encounter will be used to complete the qualifying rounds for both teams.

TRT Afrika