Ghana’s Black Meteors have been drawn to face cross border neighbours Togo in the first round of the qualifiers to the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

To qualify for the age-restricted competition, participating nations have to overcome three two-legged qualifying stages.

And Ghana – who have failed to participate in the new Olympics Games qualifying tournament since its inception in 2011 – will kick start their campaign against the Togolese over two legs between November 12 and 20, 2018.

As many as 30 countries will be in action in the first round of the qualifiers while defending champions Nigeria lead 13 countries exempt from that stage. The others are Algeria, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The second round is scheduled for March 18 to 26 next year while the third and final round to determine the seven nations to join hosts Egypt at the quadrennial competition is planned for June 3 to 11, 2019.

The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations is scheduled for November 8-22. The top three countries automatically qualify to represent the continent at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games football tournament.

First round Fixtures:

Ghana vs Togo

Burkina Faso vs Niger

Cameroon vs Chad

Angola vs Namibia

Mozambique vs Swaziland

Botswana vs Malawi

Burundi vs Tanzania

Guinea Bissau vs Sao Tome and Principe

Uganda vs South Sudan

Mauritania vs Equatorial Guinea

Seychelles vs Sudan

Kenya vs Mauritius

Libya vs Gambia

Rwanda vs DR Congo

Ethiopia vs Somalia