The first round of CAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 7 to 17 October 2015.[1]
Format
editA 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
editThe 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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
|
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
|
2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.
| Lesotho | 1–1 | Comoros |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
|
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) |
|
| Swaziland | 2–1 | Djibouti |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
|
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Burundi won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.
| Guinea-Bissau | 1–3 | Liberia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
|
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) |
|
| Madagascar | 2–2 | Central African Republic |
|---|---|---|
|
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CAF) |
Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Algeria.
Goalscorers
editThere 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