Hosts Zambia will know their 2017 Africa Youth Championship group stage opponents on Monday, October 24 when the draws for next years tournament are made in Cairo.
Zambia will host the CAF Under-20 Cup from February 26 to March 12 in Lusaka and on the Copperbelt.
Zambia and 2015 runners-up Senegal will avoid each other in the preliminary round as the top seeds in Group A and B respectively.
Pot B of the draws will contain 4th place finishers Mali and South Africa.
Senegal, Mali and South Africa including hosts Zambia are the only teams from the 2015 edition in this years draws.
Zambia failed to make it out of the group stage with three straight defeats at the tournament hosted by Senegal.
Defending champions and record seven-time winners Nigeria and third place finishers Ghana did not qualify.
Pot C will contain 1995 champions Cameroon and four-time winners Egypt while the final Pot will consists of Sudan and 1979 finalists Guinea.
What preparation is there right now? What friendlies have you done? How exposed are they to feel confident? They should have been doing a tour all over Africa to send a message to all that they are hosting the tournament and that they are in form. As it is its first round knock off.
So now this FAZ led by this kamanga chap are not doing anything to prepare for the tournament. Believe Zambia are packing their bags in the first round. Government led by the drunkard should know better that we hosting a tournament. Are we putting in place infrastructure for the same?