The Uganda Cranes learnt their path to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco during the qualification draw conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday.
Uganda, South Africa, Congo Brazzaville, and South Sudan compose Group K and we take a glance at how many times each of the four countries have managed to reach the finals.
South Africa
The Bafana Bafana have qualified for AFCON the most times than any of their Group K counterparts.
They have played at 11 AFCON tournaments winning it once in 1996 as debutants when they defeated Tunisia 2-0 in Johannesburg.
To host this competition, they replaced East African side Kenya and interestingly, the final was officiated by Charles Masembe, a retired Ugandan referee.
After hosting and winning the 1996 AFCON, the Bafana Bafana would later play at six consecutive finals in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008.
They finished as runners up, third, and quarterfinalists in 1998, 2000, and 2002, respectively before being eliminated in the group stages in 2004, 2006, and 2008.
South Africa failed to qualify for AFCON in 2010 and 2012 but returned in 2013 as hosts and their journey ended in the quarterfinals and in the group stages in 2015.
In 2017, they did not qualify, bouncing back in 2019 to finish as quarterfinalists. They again failed to make it for the 2021 tournament but finished third in 2023.
Congo Brazzaville
The Red Devils have played at seven AFCON finals debuting in 1968 but did not make it beyond the group stages.
Congo did not qualify for the next tournament in 1970 but won it in 1972 on their return thanks to a 3-2 win over Mali in Cameroon.
As holders, they reached the semifinals of the 1974 tourney but fell to Zambia. After missing the 1976 competition, they returned in 1978 but were ejected from the group stages.
They would later fail to qualify for the next six consecutive tournaments before playing at their fifth AFCON in 1992 reaching the quarterfinals.
Congo’s next two AFCON participations came in 2000 and 2015 finishing in the group stages and quarterfinals, respectively.
Uganda
Just like Congo, the Uganda Cranes have featured seven times at the continent’s greatest sporting event with their best performance coming in 1978 when they reached the final but lost 2-0 to hosts Ghana.
The Cranes’ maiden appearance at AFCON was in 1962 the same year the country got her independence.
It was a four-team tournament in Ethiopia and Uganda lost the first game 2–1 to United Arab Republic hence their elimination.
The East African nation finished bottom of Group A at the 1968 event once again in Ethiopia during their second appearance.
Uganda missed the 1970 and 1972 competitions and they were eliminated in the group stages once more at their third participation in 1974.
The Pearl of Africa was in back to back in 1976 in Ethiopia but still their fate was decided in the group stages.
After playing in the final in 1978, the Uganda Cranes were a no show until 2017 in Gabon and later in 2019 in Egypt finishing in the group stages and Round of 16, respectively.
South Sudan
The Bright Stars are the only nation in Group K that have never played in the Africa Cup of Nations before.
Amongst the four teams, Uganda was the first team to play at AFCON in 1962.
The qualifiers for the 2025 tournament will be played between September and November 2024 before the finals from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026 in Morocco.
