The draw for the 2008 African Cup of Nations (ACN) in Ghana qualifiers saw champions Egypt drawn to a relatively easy group alongside Botswana, Mauritania and Burundi.

The draw, that included 47 countries divided into 12 groups, was held in the Confederation for African Football (CAF) headquarters in the 6th of October district in Cairo.

All groups included four countries with the exception of Group 12 that includes only three countries, Morocco, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Egypt will start their title defense campaign by playing against Burundi in September in Cairo.

Each group’s top-seeders will qualify directly to the 2008 African Cup finals, while three more second-placed countries, according to their points, will join the group leaders.

The 2006 African Cup runners-up, Ivory Coast, were draw to Group one alongside Djibouti, Gabon and Madagascar.

The full draw:

Group One: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Madagascar, Djibouti

Group Two: Egypt, Botswana, Burundi, Mauritania

Group Three: Nigeria, Uganda, Lesotho, Niger

Group Four: Tunisia, Sudan, Mauritius, Seychelles

Group Five: Cameroon, Rwanda, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea

Group Six: Angola, Kenya, Swaziland, Eritrea

Group Seven: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Tanzania

Group Eight: Guinea, Algeria, Cape Verde, Gambia

Group Nine: Togo, Mali, Benin, Sierra Leone

Group 10: DR Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Namibia

Group 11: Zambia, Congo, Chad, RSA

Group 12: Morocco, Zimbabwe, Malawi