**FIFA Announces Dates for 2018 World Cup Second Round Qualifiers**
The **International Football Federation (FIFA)** has confirmed the schedule for the **second round of African qualifiers** for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Matches begin on **November 11** with **Mozambique vs. Gabon** and conclude on **November 17** with fixtures including **Tunisia vs. Mauritania**, **Egypt vs. Chad**, and **Burkina Faso vs. Benin**.
After the conclusion of this round, the **20 qualified teams** will be drawn into **five groups of four teams**, with the group winners earning direct qualification to the **2018 World Cup**. The group stage will run from **October 2016 to November 2017**.
### First Leg Matches
**Wednesday, November 11**
* Sudan – Zambia, Khartoum
* Mozambique – Gabon, Maputo
**Thursday, November 12**
* Morocco – Equatorial Guinea, Agadir
* Burundi – DR Congo, Bujumbura
* Benin – Burkina Faso, Cotonou
* Togo – Uganda, Lomé
* Namibia – Guinea, Windhoek
**Friday, November 13**
* Comoros – Ghana, Moroni
* Madagascar – Senegal, Antananarivo
* Libya – Rwanda, Sfax (Tunisia)
* Mauritania – Tunisia, Nouakchott
* Liberia – Ivory Coast, Monrovia
* Kenya – Cape Verde, Nairobi
* Angola – South Africa, Benguela
* Swaziland – Nigeria, Lobamba
* Niger – Cameroon, Niamey
**Saturday, November 14**
* Botswana – Mali, Francistown
* Chad – Egypt, Ndjamena
* Tanzania – Algeria, Dar es Salaam
* Ethiopia – Congo, Addis Ababa
### Return Matches
**Saturday, November 14**
* Gabon – Mozambique, Libreville
**Sunday, November 15**
* Uganda – Togo, Kampala
* Zambia – Sudan, Ndola
* DR Congo – Burundi, Kinshasa
* Equatorial Guinea – Morocco, Bata
* Guinea – Namibia, Casablanca (Morocco)
**Tuesday, November 17**
* Rwanda – Libya, Kigali
* Cameroon – Niger, Yaoundé
* Congo – Ethiopia, Brazzaville
* Nigeria – Swaziland, Port Harcourt
* Ghana – Comoros, Kumasi
* Egypt – Chad, Cairo
* Tunisia – Mauritania, Radès
* South Africa – Angola, Durban
* Ivory Coast – Liberia, Abidjan
* Burkina Faso – Benin, Ouagadougou
* Algeria – Tanzania, Blida
* Cape Verde – Kenya, Praia
* Senegal – Madagascar, Dakar
* Mali – Botswana, Bamako
*Sources: FIFA.com, national federations*