2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament details
Dates	5 October 2015 – TBA 2017
Teams	54 (from 1 confederation)

Qualification for championships (CAF)
FIFA World Cup 1934 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Main article: FIFA World Cup qualification
Africa Cup of Nations 1962 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2013 2015 2017 Main article: Africa Cup of Nations qualifying

The African section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The CAF Executive Committee approved the format for the qualifiers of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 14 January 2015.^[1]

Format

The qualification structure is as follows:^[1]

First round, Second round, and Third round: The competing teams will go through three preliminary rounds to reduce the number of teams to 20.
Fourth round: The 20 teams remaining after the first three rounds will be divided into five groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. Assuming the same number of slots allocated to the CAF as the previous World Cup (5 berths), the winners of each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Entrants

All 54 FIFA-affiliated football associations from CAF entered qualification.^[2] However, Zimbabwe were expelled from the competition on 12 March 2015 due to their failure to pay former coach José Claudinei a severance fee,^[3] a decision that the Zimbabwe Football Association said they would appeal.^[4]

Schedule

Round	Matchday	Date
First round	First leg	5–13 October 2015
First round	Second leg	5–13 October 2015
Second round	First leg	9–17 November 2015
Second round	Second leg	9–17 November 2015
Third round	First leg	7–9 October 2016
Third round	Second leg	11–13 November 2016

Round	Matchday	Date
Fourth round	Matchday 1
	Matchday 2
	Matchday 3
	Matchday 4
	Matchday 5
	Matchday 6

First round

The draw for the first round will be held on 25 July 2015, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[1]

The lowest ranked teams will enter the first round.

Third round

Up to 40 teams will take part in the third round to determine which 20 qualify for the fourth round.^[1]

Fourth round

There will be five groups of four teams. Each group winner will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.^[1]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "FORMAT OF 2017 AFCON QUALIFIERS AND 2018 WORLD CUP". CAFonline.com. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
↑ "Road to Russia with new milestone". FIFA.com. 15 January 2015.
↑ "Zimbabwe expelled from the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia". FIFA.com. 12 March 2015.
↑ "Zimbabwe expelled from 2018 World Cup". BBC Sport. 12 March 2015.

External links

Official websites for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, Qualifiers, FIFA.com

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

AFC	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round (play-off for 5th place)

CAF	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round

CONCACAF	First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round Fifth Round

CONMEBOL	Round Robin

OFC	First Round Second Round Third Round

UEFA	First Round Second Round (play-offs)

Play-offs	TBA