South Africa were among the six countries that booked their places last Saturday to participate in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after each won their penultimate qualifier.
Cameroun, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Senegal were the others to have sealed their progress.
The six countries join the already-qualified trio Algeria, Cape Verde, Tunisia, and new hosts Equatorial Guinea at next year's tournament which will be be played from January 17 to February 8.
In Group A, South Africa beat Sudan 2-1 to secure one of the two automatic qualification spots in Group A with a game to spare.
The result brings to an end a run that has seen South Africa fail to qualify by right for a tournament since the 2008 Nations Cup — they played at the 2010 World Cup and the 2013 Nations Cup as hosts.
In the group's other match African champions Nigeria secured a chance of automatic qualifying spot by beating Congo 2-0. Last Saturday's result means the Super Eagles will snatch a berth in Equatorial Guinea by beating South Africa on Wednesday, as they have now scored more goals than Congo in their two meetings.
In Group B, Mali missed an opportunity to qualify as they fell 2-0 to Malawi — a result that keeps alive the victors' hopes of qualification.
Robert Ng'ambi and Esau Kanyenda scored the goals for Malawi, who are now level on points with their opponents, with only one game left to play.
Table-toppers Algeria who have already qualified beat bottom side Ethiopia 3-1 with Sofiane Feghouli, Riyad Mahrez and Yacine Brahimi scoring to keep up their 100 per cent record.
In Group C, Burkina Faso forward Jonathan Pitroipa was on target to earn his side a narrow 1-0 victory over Lesotho. A win that saw them qualify alongside Gabon.
Gabon also made it through after they drew 0-0 with Angola.
Cameroun went some way to erase their memories of a disastrous World Cup campaign in Group D by bouncing back to clinch a spot at the continental showpiece.
The Indomitable Lions overcame Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 to book their ticket, courtesy of Vincent Aboubakar's strike on 71 minutes.
In Group E, Ghana blew a chance to seal their spot at the 17 January to 8 February tournament as they suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Uganda.
Togo were also left stunned by Guinea who produced a 4-1 victory in Lome. Seydouba Soumah’s hit a hat-trick for Guinea ensured that the outcome of the group will be decided on Wednesday.
Zambia, the 2012 champions,secured their passage to the finals in Group F with a 1-0 victory over Mozambique, with Given Singuluma scoring the goal that sent Chipoloplo through.
Both automatic qualification spots have been sewn up in the group, with Cape Verde already having sealed their place.
The Blue Sharks beat Niger 3-1 last Saturday to claim top place.
For Group F, it was Mame Biram Diouf whose goal put Senegal through to the finals
Senegal secured their qualification with a 1-0 win away to Egypt , courtesy of an eighth minute goal from Stoke City's Mame Biram Diouf
The result leaves the record seven-time champions Egypt hoping to qualify as the one best third-placed team.
Tunisia took one of the qualifying spots in the group with a draw Botswana
