2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF first round
The first round of CAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 7 to 17 October 2015.[1]
Format
[edit]A total of 26 teams (teams ranked 28–53 in the CAF entrant list) played home-and-away over two legs. The 13 winners advanced to the second round.
Seeding
[edit]The draw for the first round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.[2][3][4]
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2015 (shown in parentheses).[5] The 26 teams are seeded into two pots:
- Pot 4 contained the teams ranked 1–13 (i.e., 28–40 in the CAF entrant list).
- Pot 5 contained the teams ranked 14–26 (i.e., 41–53 in the CAF entrant list).
Each tie contained a team from Pot 4 and a team from Pot 5, with the team from Pot 4 hosting the second leg.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.
Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
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Matches
[edit]Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Somalia | 0–6 | Niger | 0–2 | 0–4 |
South Sudan | 1–5 | Mauritania | 1–1 | 0–4 |
Gambia | 2–3 | Namibia | 1–1 | 1–2 |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 1–3 | Ethiopia | 1–0 | 0–3 |
Chad | 2–2 (a) | Sierra Leone | 1–0 | 1–2 |
Comoros | 1–1 (a) | Lesotho | 0–0 | 1–1 |
Djibouti | 1–8 | Swaziland | 0–6 | 1–2 |
Eritrea | 1–5 | Botswana | 0–2 | 1–3 |
Seychelles | 0–3 | Burundi | 0–1 | 0–2 |
Liberia | 4–2 | Guinea-Bissau | 1–1 | 3–1 |
Central African Republic | 2–5 | Madagascar | 0–3 | 2–2 |
Mauritius | 2–5 | Kenya | 2–5 | 0–0 |
Tanzania | 2–1 | Malawi | 2–0 | 0–1 |
Somalia | 0–2 | Niger |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Niger won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cameroon.
Mauritania won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Tunisia.
Gambia | 1–1 | Namibia |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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Namibia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Guinea.
Ethiopia won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Congo.
Sierra Leone | 2–1 | Chad |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.
Lesotho | 1–1 | Comoros |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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1–1 on aggregate. Comoros won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Ghana.
Djibouti | 0–6 | Swaziland |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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Swaziland | 2–1 | Djibouti |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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Swaziland won 8–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Nigeria.
Botswana won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Mali. [note 5]
Burundi | 2–0 | Seychelles |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Burundi won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.
Guinea-Bissau | 1–3 | Liberia |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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Liberia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Ivory Coast.
Central African Republic | 0–3 | Madagascar |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
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Madagascar | 2–2 | Central African Republic |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Madagascar won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Senegal.
Kenya won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cape Verde.
Malawi | 1–0 | Tanzania |
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Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Algeria.
Goalscorers
[edit]There were 68 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.62 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Galabgwe Moyana
- Eudes Dagoulou
- Demba Malick
- Mohamed M'Changama
- Mohamed Liban
- Henok Goitom
- Dawit Fekadu
- Ramkel Lok
- Gatoch Panom
- Pa Dibba
- Abdou Jammeh
- Amido Baldé
- Ibraime Cassamá
- Ayub Masika
- Michael Olunga
- Haron Shakava
- Tsepo Seturumane
- Abel Andrianantenaina
- Johann Paul
- Michael Rabeson
- Njiva Rakotoharimalala
- Falimery Ramanamahefa
- John Banda
- Cheikh Moulaye Ahmed
- Ismaël Diakité
- Moussa Samba
- Jonathan Bru
- Andy Sophie
- Hendrik Somaeb
- Luís Leal
- Alhaji Kamara
- Abdul Sesay
- Dominic Abui Pretino
- Saneliso Dlamini
- Mxolisi Lukhele
- Mthunzi Mkhontfo
- Sabelo Ndzinisa
- Tony Tsabedze
- Mbwana Samatta
- Thomas Ulimwengu
Notes
[edit]- ^ Somalia played their home leg in Ethiopia due to the Somali Civil War.
- ^ The South Sudan v Mauritania match was suspended after 10 minutes due to torrential rain, with the score 1–1 at the time. The match was resumed on 8 October 2015, 11:00 UTC+3.[6]
- ^ Sierra Leone played their home leg in Nigeria due to the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
- ^ Swaziland v Djibouti were to originally kick off on 13 October 2015, 19:00 UTC+3, but has been postponed to 17 October 2015, due to the inability of Djibouti's national team to arrive on time for the game.[7]
- ^ After the Eritrea-Botswana match, ten Eritrea players refused to return home and sought asylum in Botswana.[8]
- ^ The Central African Republic played their home leg in Madagascar due to the Central African Republic Civil War.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: Procedure for the preliminary draw". CAF. 21 July 2015.
- ^ "Draw Procedures – African Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2015.
- ^ "Results of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Preliminary Draw". CAF. 25 July 2015.
- ^ "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – July 2015 (CAF)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "World Cup debutants South Sudan draw". CAFonline.com. 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Swaziland, Djibouti W/Cup Qualifier Postponed". Complete Sports. 13 October 2015.
- ^ "Eritrean football players seek asylum in Botswana". BBC. 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Qualifying match between Central African Republic and Madagascar rescheduled". FIFA.com. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015.
External links
[edit]- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Africa: Round 1, FIFA.com
- 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Qualifiers, CAFonline.com