Only national team players who were playing in their country's own domestic league were eligible to compete in the tournament.

[2] A total of 42 CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds, split into zones according to their regional affiliations.

[3] In the Northern Zone, teams played each other on a double round-robin basis.

If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).

The draw was held on 5 April 2015, 16:00 UTC+2, at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

[9][8] Note: Libya played their home matches in Morocco and Tunisia due to security concerns.

Note: Guinea and Sierra Leone played their home matches in Mali and Mauritania respectively due to the Ebola outbreak (Sierra Leone home match brought forward by a week).

Note: Guinea played their home match in Mali due to the Ebola outbreak.

Note: Second leg of Ivory Coast v Ghana delayed by a week due to presidential elections.

[15] Second leg of Congo v Cameroon postponed to 31 October due to civil unrest.