Leemisa Thuseho
THE senior national team, Likuena, have once again been pitted against Seychelles in the preliminary rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 qualifiers.
The draw was conducted this week in Rabat, Morocco.
Lesotho is among 12 nations required to start the qualification campaign in the preliminary round due to their low FIFA rankings. The other 11 countries involved are Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, São Tomé and Príncipe, Djibouti, Somalia, Seychelles, and Eritrea.
According to the draw, Lesotho will face Seychelles over two legs in a bid to qualify for the group stages of the qualifiers.
The Indian Ocean island nation will host the first leg, with Lesotho hosting the return fixture. The matches are scheduled to be played between 25 and 31 March this year.
This will be the second time Lesotho and Seychelles meet in AFCON preliminary qualifiers.
Their first encounter came during the 2023 AFCON preliminary rounds, where Lesotho progressed with a 3–1 aggregate victory. The first leg ended in a goalless draw, before Lesotho secured a 3–1 win in the second leg.
Before that, the two Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) nations met in the 2017 AFCON qualifiers where Seychelles won the first round 2–0, while Lesotho claimed a 2–1 victory in the second round.
With the upcoming qualifiers fast approaching, the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is under pressure to fast-track the appointment of a new national team coach.
Likuena are currently without a head coach after former coach, Leslie Notši, and his entire technical team were relieved of their duties last month.
LeFA has since invited applications from suitably qualified candidates for the vacant position.
However, when asked about progress in the recruitment process, LeFA secretary-general, Mokhosi Mohapi, said there was little to report at this stage, saying the association was still assessing the applications received.
Last month, Mohapi told this publication that the association aimed to appoint a coach before the end of January to allow adequate time for player selection and preparations ahead of the qualifiers.
“If we can appoint a coach by January, it will give them sufficient time to select players and prepare programmes,” Mohapi said.
Meanwhile, in other 2027 AFCON preliminary fixtures, Djibouti will face South Sudan, Chad will take on Burundi, Somalia will play Mauritius, Eritrea will battle Eswatini, while São Tomé and Príncipe have been drawn against Ethiopia.
The six teams that emerge victorious from the preliminary round will advance to join the 42 highest-ranked nations in the group stage draw of the CAF AFCON 2027 qualifiers.
The 2027 AFCON finals will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from June to July, marking the first time in history that Africa’s premier football tournament will be hosted by three countries.
