EGYPT BACK IN 2018 CHAN

(L-R) Egypt’s Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, Tarek Hamed, Essam El-Hadary, Mohamed Salah, Saleh Gomaa, Ahmed Fathy, Mohamed Elneny, Hassan Ahmed, Ramadan Sobhi, Ahmed Hegazi, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy pose for a team picture during their World Cup 2018 Africa qualifying match between Egypt and Congo at the Borg el-Arab stadium in Alexandria on October 8, 2017. Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP

Egypt will compete at the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco, despite being eliminated in the qualifying competition two months ago.

The Egyptians lost 4-2 on aggregate to Morocco, who are now automatic competitors in the 16-team event having replaced Kenya as hosts.

This opened the door for Egypt to be reinstated into the biennial tournament restricted to home-based footballers.

African football body CAF ditched Kenya as hosts last month for falling behind with preparations and Morocco were chosen to replace them at the weekend.

Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia are the other finalists.

A draw on a date to be announced will split the 16 countries into four groups, from which winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Democratic Republic of Congo (twice), Tunisia and Libya won previous Nations Championship tournaments.

FIFA classify CHAN matches as full internationals with results counting toward the monthly rankings.