World Cup quarterfinalists Ghana lead 42 hopefuls when the 2012 Nations Cup qualifying campaign kicks off this weekend.

The Black Stars are away to minnows Swaziland on Sunday, two months after new Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan blazed a last-minute penalty over the crossbar and Uruguay went on to win on penalties.

Midfielders Michael Essien of Chelsea, Sulley Muntari of Inter Milan and Stephen Appiah of Cesena will be notable absentees, leaving wily Serb coach Milovan Rajevac to unleash his young stars on the Swazis.

Essien has just returned to action after an absence caused by a knee injury suffered during training at the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola last January and has opted out of African combat for a while.

Talented but temperamental Muntari has given the coach more grey hairs than the rest of the squad combined and was left out while Appiah decided last month to concentrate on his club career in Italy.

Swaziland usually provide stiff resistance at Somhlolo stadium in the breathtaking Ezulwini Valley, having defeated Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and his Togo team-mates there in the last qualifying competition.

Sudan host Congo tomorrow in the other Group I fixture knowing that second place is the realistic limit of their ambitions, with Ghana hot favourites to secure a place at finals.

Defending champions no longer get a free passage to the biennial tournament, so seven-times title holders Egypt must go through the same six-match grind as everyone else, starting with Sierra Leone in Cairo on Sunday.

The Pharaohs warmed up with a 6-3 home victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo and in young Ahmed Ali from Ismailia they appear to have unearthed another promising striker.

Another threat to the Leone Stars will be Egypt's Mohamed "Geddo" Nagy, unknown before the 2010 tournament, only to upstage stars like Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and finish as leading scorer with five goals.

Nigeria caretaker coach Austin Eguavoen has gone against the tradition of naming only foreign-based stars by including several locals for a Group A encounter with modest Madagascar in Calabar on Sunday.

After a disastrous World Cup campaign, the Super Eagles are under huge pressure to improve and should collect maximum points against rivals who battled to overcome featherweights Comoros Islands in a warm-up game.