After their second successive quarter-final elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations in Mali, the Black Stars of Ghana will begin their next campaign for the elite title on September 8, with a group qualifying match against Uganda in Kampala.

This follows draws held in Bamako at the week-end for the preliminaries of the Africa Cup of Nations finals to be held in Tunisia in 2004.

Seeded among the top 13 teams, the Black Stars were placed in Group 13 with Uganda and Rwanda as the other group members.

There were two other groups of three teams in the format which will have 49 out of the total 53 countries participating.

The defending champions and host nation are automatic qualifiers.

The other groups of three are Group 11 made up of Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa and Burundi and Group 12 with Namibia, Algeria and Chad.

Group 1 - Angola, Djibouti, Malawi, Nigeria
Group 2 - Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Niger
Group 3 - Benin, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia
Group 4 - Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo, Mozambique
Group 5 - Cape Verde Islands, Kenya, Mauritania, Togo
Group 6 - Eritrea, Mali, Seychelles, Zimbabwe
Group 7 - Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Morocco, Sierra Leone
Group 8 - Gambia, Lesotho, Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon/Senegal (loser of 2002 final on Sunday will compete in qualifiers)
Group 9 - Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Swaziland
Group 10 - Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritius
Group 11 - Burundi, Ivory Coast, South Africa
Group 12 - Algeria, Chad, Namibia
Group 13 - Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda
The 13 group winners qualify for the finals with hosts Tunisia and the winners of 2002 final between Cameroon and Senegal in Bamako Sunday.
The final place will be awarded to the best second-placed finisher from Group 1 to 10.
This will be decided first by the highest number of points, then goal difference, highest number of goals scored and, if necessary, a play-off.