Own Correspondent|Zimbabwe’s Warriors have avoided meeting neighbours and rivals South Africa in the group stages at the 2019 African Cup Of Nations Finals in Egypt in June.

The Warriors and Bafana Bafana were seeded into the same pot going into the draw set for April 12 in Egypt.

Egypt as hosts booked their place in the first seed for the 2019 African Cup of Nations finals to avoid playing top flight teams Ghana, Tunisia, Cameroon, Senegal and Ivory Coast in the tournament’s group stage.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Sunday the seeding of the teams that will participate in the AFCON finals as Morocco, Nigeria and Algeria came in the second seed five days before the tournament’s draw.

The CAF announced that the 2019 African Cup of Nations will start on 21 June and end on 13 July.

Egypt will host AFCON 2019 after original host Cameroon was stripped of its duties due to delays in its preparations for the expanded 24-team tournament.

The opening match, which will feature the Pharaohs, is scheduled to take place at the 74,100-seat Cairo Stadium.

The AFCON teams’ seeding:

First seed: Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal

Second seed: Morocco, Nigeria, DR Congo, Algeria, Mali and Guinea

Third seed: Uganda, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Angola and Burundi

Fourth seed: Mauritania, Namibia, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar