The preliminary round consisted of the eight lowest-ranked teams among the 52 entrants, and was held from 20 to 26 March 2024.

[1] The four winners: Chad, Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan advanced to the group stage to join the 44 teams which entered directly.

[2] The preliminary round draw was held on 20 February 2024, 14:00 CAT (UTC+2) at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

[1] The eight involved national teams were seeded into two pots of four based on the FIFA World Rankings from 15 February 2024 (shown in parentheses).

[2] Eswatini (149) Liberia (152) South Sudan (166) Mauritius (177) Chad (181) São Tomé and Príncipe (191) Djibouti (192) Somalia (198) The first legs were played on 20 and 22 March, and the second legs were played on 26 March 2024.