The Super Eagles of Nigeria booked their place in the 2022 African Cup of Nations tournament holding in Cameroon on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Benin Republic.

Paul Onuachu grabbed the winner at the death against the resilient Squirrels, despite already assured of their place in the tournament before kick-off, thanks to a goalless draw between Lesotho and Sierra Leone.

They joined Ghana, Egypt, and others amongst the 24 teams, including the host country Cameroon who qualified automatically for the 33rd edition of the biggest tournament of the continent since its inception in 1957.

Out of 48 teams in the qualifying stages, 17 Nations have already qualified for the tournament,  including debutant Comoros who secured qualification by coming second behind Egypt in Group G, at the expense of Kenya and Togo.

See full list of already qualified 17 nations:

Algeria,
Burkina Faso,
Cameroon,
Comoros,
Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon,Af
Gambia,
Ghana,
Guinea,
Ivory Coast,
Mali,
Morocco,
Nigeria,
Senegal,
Tunisia and
Zimbabwe

With one matchday left to complete the qualifiers, at least 16 teams have the opportunity to grab the seven remaining slots to complete the 24 teams required to hold the tournament.
Benin Republic’s defeat against Nigeria kept Sierra Leone in contention for a place in Cameroon.

One of Madagascar and Ethiopia can join Ivory Coast from Group K, while South Africa will be looking to edge Sudan in Group C.

Here are the 16 contenders vying for the last seven spots

Benin,
Burundi,
Cape Verde,
The central African Republic,
Congo Brazzaville,
Ethiopia,
Guinea-Bissau,
Madagascar,
Malawi,
Mauritania,
Mozambique,
Rwanda,
Sierra Leone,
South Africa,
Sudan,
Uganda

Eliminated (14)

Angola,
Botswana,
The Democratic Republic of Congo,
Eswatini,
Kenya,
Lesotho,
Libya,
Namibia,
Niger,
Sao Tome e Principe,
South Sudan,
Tanzania,
Togo,
Zambia.
Djibouti, Liberia, Mauritius and Seychelles were eliminated in a preliminary round and Eritrea and Somalia did not enter

Disqualified (1)
Chad