This page details the process of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification phase. Forty-six African nations, including hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, entered the competition. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea automatically qualified as host countries. The other 44 nations were drawn into eleven groups, each containing 4 teams. Togo was later added to Group K after its reinstatement.

In each group, teams played each other home and away in a round-robin format. The top team in each group qualified, as did the runner-up of Group K (which contained 5 teams) and the two best runners-up from the other groups.^[1]

The teams qualified are:

More information Country, Qualified as ...

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament
Gabon	00Co-hosts	0329 July 2007	4 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2010)
Equatorial Guinea			0 (debut)
Botswana	01Group K Winner	0026 March 2011	0 (debut)
Ivory Coast	01Group H Winner	005 June 2011	18 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 19842, 1986, 1988, 1990, 19921, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Burkina Faso	01Group F Winner	003 September 2011	7 (1978, 1996, 19982, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010)
Senegal	01Group E Winner	03 September 2011	11 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 19922, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008)
Ghana	01Group I Winner	008 October 2011	17 (196312, 19651, 1968, 1970, 197812, 1980, 19821, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 20002, 2002, 2006, 20082, 2010)
Guinea	01Group B Winner	008 October 2011	10 (1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2004, 2008)
Zambia	01Group C Winner	008 October 2011	14 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Libya	01Top Two Runner-up	008 October 2011	2 (19822, 2006)
Angola	01Group J Winner	008 October 2011	5 (1996, 1998, 2006, 2008, 20102)
Tunisia	01Group K Runner-up	008 October 2011	14 (1962, 1963, 19652, 1978, 1982, 19942, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 200412, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Mali	01Group A Winner	008 October 2011	6 (1972, 1994, 20022, 2004, 2008, 2010)
Niger	01Group G Winner	008 October 2011	0 (debut)
Morocco	01Group D Winner	009 October 2011	13 (1972, 19761, 1978, 1980, 1986, 19882, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008)
Sudan	01Top Two Runner-up	009 October 2011	7 (19572, 1959, 1963, 197012, 1972, 1976, 2008)

Close

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² Italic indicates host

CAF conducted the draw for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign on 20 February 2010. The draw was held in Lubumbashi, Congo DR where the CAF Super Cup was held on 21 February 2010.^[2] The 11 teams in Pot 1 were selected based on their ranking after the 27th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. The rest were ranked based on their position at the latest FIFA Ranking.^[3][4]

Notes

• Togo was initially banned from competing in the tournament and was thus not involved in the draw, but they were later reinstated and added to Group K (see below).
• Did not enter:  Djibouti,  Eritrea,  Lesotho,  São Tomé and Príncipe,  Seychelles,  Somalia.

Togo were banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following a deadly attack on their team bus.^[5]

Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Togo were readmitted to the 2012 and 2013 tournaments, and (in the case of the 2012 qualifiers) added to the qualification stage.^[6]

The order of tie-breakers used when two or more team have the equal number of points is:^[7] (article 14)

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.