Matches of days three and four of the AFCON qualifiers will be moved consequently from September 2022 to 20-28 March 2023.

Also, matches on day five will now be on 12-20 June 2023 while matchday six will be played on 4-12 September 2023.

According to a statement on CAF’s official website, the change in decision came to give time for the African national teams that qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 scheduled in November/ December 2022 to prepare well.

The record seven-time African champions Egypt started off their Nations Cup qualifying campaign in a disappointing manner, having scraped a 1-0 home win over Guinea in their Group D opening game in June before suffering a stunning 2-0 loss to Ethiopia in Malawi later that same month.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)