The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in South Africa after that country struck a deal with Libya to swap their hosting rights from 2017.

The North African country was originally scheduled to act as hosts, but the civil war in that country made it impossible. South Africa, as hosts of the 2017 tournament, stepped in and offered to swap, giving the Libyans more time to prepare.

It will be the second time that South Africa have hosted the continental showpiece, they did so in 1996 as coach Clive Barker led them to the title with a 2-0 final win over Tunisia.

There will once again be 16 nations participating at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals, with South Africa automatically gaining entry as hosts.

For the first time since 1990, all the qualifying matches will be played on a knockout basis without any group action because of the short time between the 2012 finals and 2013 competition.

The 14 winners of the second round ties to be played in February and June will be joined by 16 finalists from the 2012 African Nations Cup finals – Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Gabon, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia.

They will go into a draw for a third, and last, round of 15 matches and the winners of those ties, to be played over two legs home and away, will qualify for the finals in South Africa.

The seven countries who have not entered the 2013 Nations Cup qualifiers are the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea, Mauritania, Mauritius, Swaziland and Somalia.

(Swaziland withdrew at the preliminary round stage of qualification due to financial constraints within the Football Association.)

* South Africa automatically qualify as host nation.

2013 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
SeychellesSeychelles
0 : 0 0 : 0 0 : 0
SwazilandSwaziland
SeychellesSeychelles

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Sao Tome and Príncipe Sao Tome and Príncipe
1 : 0 0 : 0 1 : 0
LesothoLesotho
Sao Tome and Príncipe Sao Tome and Príncipe
* Penalty Shootout

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
RwandaRwanda
0 : 0 0 : 2 0 : 2
NigeriaNigeria
NigeriaNigeria

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
CongoCongo
3 : 1 0 : 4 3 : 5
UgandaUganda
UgandaUganda

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
BurundiBurundi
2 : 1 0 : 1 2 : 2
ZimbabweZimbabwe
ZimbabweZimbabwe

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
GambiaGambia
1 : 2 1 : 4 2 : 6
AlgeriaAlgeria
AlgeriaAlgeria

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
KenyaKenya
2 : 1 0 : 1 2 : 2
TogoTogo
TogoTogo

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Sao Tome and Príncipe Sao Tome and Príncipe
2 : 1 2 : 4 4 : 5
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau
0 : 1 0 : 1 0 : 2
CameroonCameroon
CameroonCameroon

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
ChadChad
3 : 2 0 : 2 3 : 4
MalawiMalawi
MalawiMalawi

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
SeychellesSeychelles
0 : 4 0 : 3 0 : 7
DR CongoDR Congo
DR CongoDR Congo

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
TanzaniaTanzania
1 : 1 (7) 1 : 1 (8)* 2 : 2
MozambiqueMozambique
MozambiqueMozambique

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
EgyptEgypt
2 : 3 1 : 1 3 : 4
C.A.R.C.A.R.
C.A.R.C.A.R.

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
MadagascarMadagascar
0 : 4 1 : 3 1 : 7
Cape VerdeCape Verde
Cape VerdeCape Verde

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
LiberiaLiberia
1 : 0 0 : 0 1 : 0
NamibiaNamibia
LiberiaLiberia

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
EthiopiaEthiopia
0 : 0 1 : 1 1 : 1
BeninBenin
EthiopiaEthiopia
* Penalty Shootout

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
MaliMali
3 : 0 4 : 1 7 : 1
BotswanaBotswana
MaliMali

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
ZimbabweZimbabwe
3 : 1 0 : 2 3 : 3
AngolaAngola
-

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
GhanaGhana
2 : 0 1 : 0 3 : 0
MalawiMalawi
GhanaGhana

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
LiberiaLiberia
2 : 2 1 : 6 3 : 8
NigeriaNigeria
NigeriaNigeria

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
ZambiaZambia
1 : 0 (9) 0 : 1 (8)* 1 : 1
UgandaUganda
ZambiaZambia

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Cape VerdeCape Verde
2 : 0 1 : 2 3 : 2
CameroonCameroon
Cape VerdeCape Verde

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
MozambiqueMozambique
2 : 0 0 : 4 2 : 4
MoroccoMorocco
MoroccoMorocco

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone
2 : 2 0 : 0 2 : 2
TunisiaTunisia
-

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
GuineaGuinea
1 : 0 0 : 2 1 : 2
NigerNiger
NigerNiger

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
SudanSudan
5 : 3 0 : 2 5 : 5
EthiopiaEthiopia
-

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
LibyaLibya
0 : 1 0 : 2 0 : 3
AlgeriaAlgeria
AlgeriaAlgeria

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
Cote d'IvoireCote d'Ivoire
4 : 2 2 : 0 6 : 2
SenegalSenegal
Cote d'IvoireCote d'Ivoire

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
DR CongoDR Congo
4 : 0 1 : 2 5 : 2
Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea
DR CongoDR Congo

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
GabonGabon
1 : 1 1 : 2 2 : 3
TogoTogo
TogoTogo

Match

1st Leg 2nd Leg Aggr
C.A.R.C.A.R.
1 : 0 1 : 3 2 : 3
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso
Burkina FasoBurkina Faso
* Penalty Shootout