Jonty Mark

By Jonty Mark

Football Editor


2022 Fifa World Cup Qualifying Draw – As It Happened!

Bafana Bafana will learn this evening who they will face in the group stages of the the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.  We'll bring you the draw right here as it happens.


READ MORE: Bafana to face Zimbabwe and Ghana on the road to Qatar 2022.

So that’s the draw. Bafana Bafana get Ghana yet again. They are already playing the Black Stars in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. Zimbabwe are old rivals, of course, with many of their top players in the Absa Premiership, while Ethiopia, as previously mentioned, stunned Bafana in Addis Ababa in qualifying for the 2014 Fifa World Cup. Not the easiest of draws for Molefi Ntseki’s men, who, of course, will have to win the group to make it to the next round of qualifying for Qatar 2022.

Group J – DR Congo, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania

Group I – MOROCCO, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan

Group H – SENEGAL, Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia, Togo

Group G – GHANA, SOUTH AFRICA, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia.

Group F – EGYPT, Gabon, Libya, Angola.

Group E – MALI, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda

Group D – CAMEROON, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Malawi

Group C – NIGERIA, Cape Verde, CAR and Liberia.

Group B – TUNISIA, Zambia, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea

Group A – ALGERIA, Burkina Faso, Niger, Djibouti

Now it’s time for Pot 1, which will complete the draw.

Benin will join Madagascar and Tanzania in Group J.

Guinea will play with Guinea-Bissau and Sudan in Group I.

Congo-Brazzaville will take on Namibia and Togo in Group H.

South Africa will play neighbours Zimbabwe and Ethiopia in Group G.

Gabon join Libya and Angola in Group F.

Uganda, captained by Sundowns’ Denis Onyango, will play with Kenya and Rwanda in Group E.

Cote D’Ivoire, one of Pot 2’s danger sides will play with Mozambique and Malawi in Group D.

Cape Verde are with Central African Republic and Liberia in Group C.

Zambia are with Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea in Group B

Burkina Faso join Niger and Djibouti in Group A

That ends Pot 3, now it’s Pot 2’s turn, which includes Bafana Bafana.

Madagascar, who had an amazing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, join Tanzania in Group J

Guinea-Bissau will play with Sudan in Group I.

Namibia, who Bafana  beat at the 2019 Afcon, will join Togo in Group H.

Zimbabwe will play with Ethiopia in Group G.

Libya, who Bafana beat to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, will join Angola in Group F.

Kenya join Rwanda in Group E.

Malawi are joined by another Southern African side in Mozambique in Group D.

Central African Republic will play with Liberia in Group C.

Mauritania will join Equatorial Guinea in Group B.

Niger are the first team out and will join Djibouti in Group A.

Now it’s time for Pot 3.

East Africa’s Tanzania are in J4, and that finishes off pot 4.

Sudan, who Bafana are playing in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, are in I4.

Togo, the land of Emmanuel Adebayor, are in H4

Ethiopia, who beat Gordon Igesund’s Bafana Bafana in 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifying, are in G4.

Palancas Negras,  Angola, who played in the 2006 Fifa World Cup finals, are in F4.

Rwanda are in E4.

The first Southern African team out of the hat are Malawi, who go in D4.

Liberia, the country of legend George Weah, will go in position C4.

Equatorial Guinea are next out, and will go in position B4.

Djibouti are the first team out of the pot, and will go in position A4 in the draw.

After a surprisingly small amount of waffle, it looks like the draw is about to start. The draw procedure is just being explained – there are ten groups of four teams, as mentioned earlier, and the winners of each of those ten groups will then play in five home-and-away play offs that will decide the five African countries at Qatar 2022.

Here is the full list of countries and which pot they are in. The draw will start with Pot 4 and go in reverse order until the it is complete.

Former Chelsea and AC Milan star Marcel Desailly, born in Ghana, and a World Cup winner with France in 1998, is the other legend that will be assisting with the draw.

Clementine Toure, a legend of women’s football in the Ivory Coast is one of those who will be helping with the draw this evening.

Now there’s a video of the great moments featuring African teams at previous World Cups, including the celebration of Siphiwe Tshabalala’s brilliant opening goal in 2010.

Ahmed Ahmed, the Caf president, is opening the draw with a speech, where he promises a qualifying competition that meets all necessary standards.

Hello, and welcome to live coverage of the draw  in Cairo for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying second round.

The draw which will see 40 countries from the continent of Africa divided into ten groups of four, is set to start at 7pm in the Egyptian capital, though there is likely to be a large amount of fanfare before the actual draw gets underway.

Bafana Bafana are in pot two of four pots, selected according to the latest Fifa World Rankings.

 

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