LUBUMBASHI: Defending champion Egypt was drawn in the same qualifying group as South Africa for the 2012 African Cup of Nations on Saturday.
Egypt and this year s World Cup host were paired in Group 7 for the tournament co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The 44 teams were separated into 11 groups and will compete for 14 places.
The co-hosts have qualified automatically.
Egypt will be looking for its eighth African title and a record fourth consecutive triumph. South Africa s only victory was in 1996.
Togo was not part of the process after the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied its request to be provisionally included earlier this week. The country was banned from the next two tournaments after it left last month s edition following a gun attack on its team bus.
Togo s overall appeal against its ban is still to be heard by CAS. If successful, the draw would have to be restaged by the African Football Confederation.
Group 4 has World Cup finalist Algeria alongside fellow north African team Morocco, Tanzania and Central African Republic.
Four-time winner Cameroon is in Group 5 with Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius.
Ivory Coast will play Benin, Rwanda and Burundi. Ghana, this year s losing finalist, is grouped with Congo, Sudan and Swaziland. -AFP
