Mauritius have been preparing in Portugal for their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary round qualifier against Sao Tome e Principe later this month.

Club M will play a series of friendly games at their European base and have already beaten Portuguese lower league side Lusitano 2-0 on Tuesday.

The team will also tackle Seychelles at home in an international friendly as a build-up to the Afcon qualifiers, where both teams are involved in the preliminary stage, with the latter to tackle fellow COSAFA side Lesotho.

Seychelles will play their ‘home’ leg of the qualifier in Mauritius before travelling to the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto to take on Lesotho in the second fixture.

The friendly between Mauritius and Seychelles will be on March 19, before both legs of their tie with Sao Tome will be played at the Côte d’Or National Sports Complex in Mauritius, a significant advantage for the home side.

The winners of these ties will advance to the group stages of the Cup of Nations qualifiers that start in June.