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
  1.  Niger (96)
  2.  Ethiopia (101)
  3.  Malawi (108)
  4.  Sierra Leone (111)
  5.  Namibia (114)
  6.  Kenya (116)
  7.  Botswana (120)
  8.  Madagascar (122)
  9.  Mauritania (128)
  10.  Burundi (131)
  11.  Lesotho (131)
  12.  Guinea-Bissau (133)
  13.  Swaziland (138)
  1.  Tanzania (139)
  2.  Gambia (143)
  3.  Liberia (161)
  4.  Central African Republic (170)
  5.  Chad (173)
  6.  Mauritius (180)
  7.  Seychelles (186)
  8.  Comoros (187)
  9.  São Tomé and Príncipe (189)
  10.  South Sudan (195)
  11.  Eritrea (204)
  12.  Somalia (205)
  13.  Djibouti (207)

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
Somalia 0–2 Niger
Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Haithem Kossaï (Tunisia)
Niger 4–0 Somalia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Falou Galasse Kane (Senegal)

Niger won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cameroon.

South Sudan 1–1[note 2] Mauritania
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Rajab Bakasambe (Uganda)
Mauritania 4–0 South Sudan
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Fidel Gomes (Guinea-Bissau)

Mauritania won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Tunisia.

Gambia 1–1 Namibia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Ousmane Karembe (Mali)
Namibia 2–1 Gambia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Joshua Bondo (Botswana)

Namibia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Guinea.

São Tomé and Príncipe 1–0 Ethiopia
  • Leal  86'
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 4,550
Referee: Alhadi Mahamat (Chad)
Ethiopia 3–0 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 23,840
Referee: Jean Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)

Ethiopia won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Congo.

Chad 1–0 Sierra Leone
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 2,664
Referee: Kokou Fagla (Togo)
Sierra Leone 2–1 Chad
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 100

2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.

Comoros 0–0 Lesotho
Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 2,800
Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)
Lesotho 1–1 Comoros
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 480
Referee: Samuel Chirindza (Mozambique)

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)
Attendance: 10,050
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)
Swaziland 2–1 Djibouti
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 2,141
Referee: Ganesh Chutooree (Mauritius)

Swaziland won 8–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Nigeria.

Eritrea 0–2 Botswana
Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 9,950
Botswana 3–1 Eritrea
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 15,073
Referee: Nelson Fred (Seychelles)

Botswana won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Mali. [note 5]

Seychelles 0–1 Burundi
Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Lemma Nigussie (Ethiopia)
Burundi 2–0 Seychelles
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 6,095
Referee: Hafiz Abdelghani Alamen (Sudan)

Burundi won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.

Liberia 1–1 Guinea-Bissau
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 10,100
Referee: Fabrício Duarte (Cape Verde)
Guinea-Bissau 1–3 Liberia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Ferdinand Udoh (Nigeria)

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)
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

Madagascar won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Senegal.

Mauritius 2–5 Kenya
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 2,300
Referee: Duncan Lengani (Malawi)
Kenya 0–0 Mauritius
Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Mandeng Cosmas (Cameroon)

Kenya won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cape Verde.

Tanzania 2–0 Malawi
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 11,474
Referee: Hagi Wiish (Somalia)
Malawi 1–0 Tanzania
 Report (FIFA)
Report (CAF)
Attendance: 7,656
Referee: Hélder Martins de Carvalho (Angola)

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

Notes
  1. Somalia played their home leg in Ethiopia due to the Somali Civil War.
  2. 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]
  3. Sierra Leone played their home leg in Nigeria due to the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
  4. 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]
  5. After the Eritrea-Botswana match, ten Eritrea players refused to return home and sought asylum in Botswana.[8]
  6. The Central African Republic played their home leg in Madagascar due to the Central African Republic Civil War.[9]

References
  1. "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: Procedure for the preliminary draw". CAF. 21 July 2015.
  3. "Draw Procedures – African Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  4. "Results of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Preliminary Draw". CAF. 25 July 2015.
  5. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – July 2015 (CAF)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  6. "World Cup debutants South Sudan draw". CAFonline.com. 8 October 2015.
  7. "Swaziland, Djibouti W/Cup Qualifier Postponed". Complete Sports. 13 October 2015.
  8. "Eritrean football players seek asylum in Botswana". BBC. 15 October 2015.
  9. "Qualifying match between Central African Republic and Madagascar rescheduled". FIFA.com. 30 September 2015.

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