CAF Confirms 2018 World Cup Qualifying Format: Zimbabwe Excluded
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially unveiled the structure and participants for the African qualifying rounds of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, confirming that 53 countries will compete for a place at the tournament in Russia.
Zimbabwe will not feature in the qualifiers after being disqualified by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee due to unresolved financial issues with a former coach. The exclusion leaves one less team in the preliminary stages, reducing the total number of African participants from 54 to 53.
Qualification Format
CAF has confirmed a three-stage qualification process. The first phase will begin with the 26 lowest-ranked African nations, based on FIFA’s July 9 rankings. These teams will contest two-legged knockout ties, with the 13 winners progressing to the second round.
In the second round, the 13 first-round winners will be joined by the 27 highest-ranked African sides. Another set of two-legged ties will determine which 20 teams will advance to the group stage of the qualifiers.
The opening matches of the first round are scheduled for 5 and 13 October 2015, while the official draw for the qualifiers is set to take place on Saturday, 25 July, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
First Round Seedings
The draw will see teams from Pot 1 paired with those from Pot 2 for home-and-away fixtures.
Pot 1 (Higher-ranked teams):
Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
Pot 2 (Lower-ranked teams):
Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti
Second Round: Top-Ranked Nations Await
The 13 victors from the opening round will then meet the 27 highest-ranked nations on the continent in the second round. These include several African heavyweights and World Cup regulars such as Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast.
List of Top 27 Seeds (in FIFA ranking order):
Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, DR Congo, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda, Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya
The final round of the qualifiers — the group stage — will follow these knockout rounds, with details to be announced at a later date.
Africa has been allocated five places at the 2018 World Cup, and competition among the continent’s top footballing nations is expected to be fierce.
