The preliminary draw for the qualifiers of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was completed on Saturday, July 25 in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the draw, teams from Africa, Europe, North and Central America and the Carribean and Oceania learned their fates. Africa had 53 member associations who awaited their fate. Zimbabwe had earlier been disqualified due to disciplinary sanctions. Out of the 53 teams, five will advance to the finals in Russia on 2018. The five teams will be determined through three rounds of qualifiers. Here are the details:  

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Draw Assistants: Russian goalkeeper Rinat Dasayev and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.

Round 1:

In the first round of qualifiers, the 26 lowest-ranked teams will play in a home and away series for the 13 spots available in round 2. This stage is expected to be played on October 5-13 2015.

Matches:

1. Somalia vs. Niger  

2. South Sudan vs. Mauritania  

3. Gambia vs. Namibia

4. São Tomé e Príncipe vs. Ethiopia  

5. Chad Sierra vs. Leone

6. Comoros vs. Lesotho  

7. Djibouti vs. Swaziland

8. Eritrea vs. Botswana  

9. Seychelles vs. Burundi  

10. Liberia Guinea vs. Bissau  

11. Central African Republic vs. Madagascar

12. Mauritius vs. Kenya

13. Tanzania vs. Malawi

Round 2:

13 teams advance to the second round of competition where another 27 teams are waiting. The 40 teams will then compete in another set of home and away games which are expected to take place in November 2015. The 20 winning teams will advance to the 3^rd round.

Matches:

1. Winner match 1 vs. Cameroon

2. Winner match 2 vs. Tunisia

3. Winner match 3 vs. Guinea

4. Winner match 4 vs. Congo

5. Winner match 5 vs. Egypt

6. Winner match 6 vs. Ghana

7. Winner match 7 vs. Nigeria

8. Winner match 8 vs. Mali

9. Winner match 9 vs. Congo DR

10. Winner match 10 vs. Côte d'Ivoire

11. Winner match 11 vs. Senegal

12. Winner match 12 vs. Cape Verde Islands

13. Winner match 13 vs. Algeria

14. Sudan vs. Zambia

15. Libya vs. Rwanda

16. Morocco vs. Equatorial Guinea  

17. Mozambique vs. Gabon

18. Benin vs. Burkina Faso

19. Togo vs. Uganda

20. Angola vs. South Africa

Round 3:

The 20 teams that have advanced from round 2 will take part in the final round of qualifiers. The teams will be drawn into five groups with four teams each. Each group will play a home-and-away round robin series. This stage is expected to take place between October 2016 and November 2017. The five winners from each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The full results of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Preliminary Draw are available at the FIFA official website. 

TagsPreliminary Draw, Results, Africa, Russia, Football, Qualifiers