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
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
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 |
|---|---|
|
|
Matches
| 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 |
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.
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.
2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.
1–1 on aggregate. Comoros won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Ghana.
| Djibouti |
0–6 | Swaziland |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Mkhontfo  45+1'Ndzinisa 62'M. Dlamini 74'Hlatjwako 77'T. Tsabedze 83'Lukhele 85' |
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 won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.
Liberia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Ivory Coast.
| Central African Republic |
0–3 | Madagascar |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Rabeson 27' Rakotoharimalala 39'Paul 65' |
| Madagascar |
2–2 | Central African Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Ramanamahefa 15' Andrianantenaina 34' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Gourrier 7' Dagoulou 44' |
Madagascar won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Senegal.
| Mauritius |
2–5 | Kenya |
|---|---|---|
| Sophie 66' (pen.) Bru 78' |
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Omolo 18', 82' Masika 23'Shakava 49'Olunga 87' |
Kenya won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cape Verde.
Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Algeria.
Goalscorers
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
- Junior Gourrier
- Mohamed M'Changama
- Mohamed Issa 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
- Muzi Dlamini
- Mxolisi Lukhele
- Mthunzi Mkhontfo
- Sabelo Ndzinisa
- Tony Tsabedze
- Mbwana Samatta
- Thomas Ulimwengu
Notes
- ↑ Somalia played their home leg in Ethiopia due to the Somali Civil War.
- ↑ South Sudan v Mauritania kicked off on 7 October 2015, 16:30 UTC+3, but was abandoned after 10 minutes at 1–1 due to torrential rain. The match restarted at 10 minutes on 8 October 2015, 11:00 UTC+3, and no more goals were scored making the final score 1–1.[6]
- ↑ Sierra Leone played their home leg in Nigeria due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 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.
- ↑ "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. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ↑ "Debutants South Sudan draw with Mauritania". FIFA.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.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Africa: Round 1, FIFA.com
- 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Qualifiers, CAFonline.com
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