South Africa have been confirmed as the top seeds in Group A, which will be based at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

But their first match on January 19 will be in Johannesburg, where organisers hope to kick off the tournament with a capacity 90000-plus crowd at Soccer City.

This was announced by Confederation of African Football general secretary Hicham El Amani after his visit to the country for last week's preliminary draw and an inspection of the venues.

Bafana will play their second game at Durban on January 23 and their third match on January 27, according to the preliminary schedule, which must still be confirmed.

Should Bafana top their group, they will stay in Durban. But if they finish second they will have to go to the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium for their quarterfinal tie. A place in the bottom two of Group A will mean elimination before the knockout stages.

Port Elizabeth will host Group B; Group C will be in Nelspruit and Group D at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg.

Each venue will host a quarterfinal match. The semifinal venues will be announced by the final draw on February 10, which is at Soccer City.

The seeds for the groups will be decided just before the draw for the finals, which is set for Durban on October 26.

The teams to join South Africa at the finals will be decided by mid-October.