As long as ethiopia can pull out a spot with this new format I will be thrilled. Watch out the Walia Antelopes the sleeping giant of Africa has awakened!!
Yes, but with 5 places there would be less interest, if you would have 6 team supergroup and 5 teams go to WC, then the interes would be poor after almost half of the rounds when 3-4 teams would already secure WC.
I didn't want to open a thread for it, but Zimbabwe has been expelled from the WCQ for failing to pay their former coach. I wonder if they'll get re-instated and if not, how will this affect the qualifiers.
It can be assumed that the format is: If Zimbabwe to allow qualifying games: 1st round: 4 worst teams of the continent: Djibouti, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia (4 teams - 2 pairs). 2nd round: teams from 29 to 50 in the ranking and 2 winners of the 1st round (24 teams - 12 pairs) 3rd round: teams from 1 to 28 in the ranking and 12 winners of the 2nd round (40 teams - 20 pairs) 4th round: 5 groups of 4 teams If Zimbabwe did not allow for games: 1st round - 3 teams: South Sudan goes in 2nd round so both will not have an opponent, Somalia and Eritrea will play among themselves. 2nd round - teams from 29 to 50 in the ranking except Zimbabwe. And also Djibouti, South Sudan and the winner of a pair of Somalia - Eritrea (24 teams - 12 pairs).
Nah, we need to wait till late 2016 to know the final groups. The July draw will determine who plays in each round AFAIK
I taught they would do like in 2002, seeding the games from the rounds by the position of the top seeds in each group. For example A The winner of Ghana x somebody The winner of Burkina Faso x somebody ...
Nah, I don't think they'd do like this. We'd have 3 rounds of playoffs to go from 53 or 54 (depending on if Zimbabwe is allowed to participate) to 20. Then, we'd have another draw to determine the final 5 groups.
Ok, according to this : http://www.football-rankings.info/2015/07/2018-fifa-world-cup-caf-format-and-pots.html The CAF format will have 2 rounds (instead of 3) before the final group stage. The official FIFA statkit says there will be 3 rounds for CAF with 26, 40 & 60 games played for each round respectively. Round 1: Lowest ranked 26 teams. 13 winners advance to the next round. Round 2: Top 27 teams + 13 winners = 40 teams. Round 3: Five groups of four teams According to the July 2015 Fifa Rankings, here's the teams distribution: Round 1 Pot 1: Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Madagascar, Botswana, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Swaziland, Burundi Pot 2: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sao Tome e Principe, Comoros, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti These teams will compete for 13 spots to join the 2nd round. Round 2 Pot 1: Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Congo DR, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda Pot 2: Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Mozambique, Libya, Niger, Benin + 13 Round 1 winners The 20 winners will be divided in 5 groups of 4 with each group winner being qualified to the WC. The draw will take place in St Petersburg on 25th of this July. IDK wether they'll make draws for the whole thing or just the 2 KO rounds. We'll wait and see.
The July FIFA rankings are out, so if this is the formula that will be used (99% certain it'll be), here are the pots and teams: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/caf.html Zimbabwe seems to have very few chances if any to be re-instated. Round 2 Pot 1: Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Congo DR, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda Pot 2: Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya + 13 Round 1 winners Round 1 Pot 1: Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Swaziland, Pot 2: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sao Tome e Principe, Comoros, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti The biggest difference from the previous list (thanks to CHAN games) is Angola jumping into the top 27 and therefore getting a bye to the 2nd round. Thy're replaced by Niger for the round 1.
According to every source I've found, they are going to do the draw for the final group stage this July in Russia based on the curent rankings. How can they do this when they don't even know which teams will be there ? What if a seed doesn't even make it ? Can anybody shed any light on this. I hope they do the draw later, because Nigeria is not even going to be seeded for the final draw if they do this. I don't know why CAF is even using these stupid FIFA rankings, that are an absolute joke.
No idea if they're going to do the whole thing in July, it'd be stupid to do so. The first 2 rounds I understand, but not the group stages. And use what instead? Seed the 5 teams that went to WC 2014? Wouldn't seem like a bad idea. As it is now, Tunisia & Senegal are replacing Cameroon & Nigeria.
Probably they will seed the groups by FIFA Ranking pots. For example, they draw Tunisia to confront Togo in round 1. The winner goes, for example, as A1 - since Tunisia is a top 5 seed. If this happen, the winner of Nigeria and someone will be a pot 2 team, like Egypt. Let take a better example, let's say, all the seeds qualify (and tbh, only Morocco, who is not seeded, can beat one of the African giants in this round, so it is not stupidity at all.), we would have this into group stages Pot A The winner of Algeria game, so lets stay with the obvious, Algeria Cote d'Ivoire Ghana Tunisia Senegal Pot B Cameroon Congo Cape Verde Egypt Nigeria Pot C Guinea DR Congo Mali Equatorial Guinea Gabon Pot D South Africa Zambia Burkina Faso Uganda Morocco So, i believe, as long Nigeria doesnt get Ghana or Algeria in pot 1, or Morocco in pot 4 (or whenever pot he will be, and that is the wild card), i think you have a pretty good chance to reach the World Cup once again
You can have this, for example: A Tunisia Cape Verde Guinea Morocco B Algeria Cameroon Mali South Africa C Côte d'Ivoire Nigeria Gabon Uganda D Senegal Egypt Equatorial Guinea Zambia E Ghana Congo DR Congo Burkina Faso
1. FIFA says the FIFA Rankings are the only thing that can be used to seed World Cup qualifiers. 2. Having a draw involving unknown teams has happened before. In qualifying for World Cup 2014, CONCACAF had three Semifinal groups of four. At the draw in Brazil, each group was given two teams that started in the Semifinals and two winners from the first group stage, which was played in late 2011 after the draw.
IMO Ghana and Nigeria will be the two best teams in Africa by 2018. It would be a shame if we were drawn together. Ghana would be the only team I Fear would be able to stop us from qualifying. We've always done well against Algeria, now that Keshi the con man is gone as coach I can only see Ghana as likely to stop us. I think the best 5 teams by 2018, and probably even currently are , in no order Nigeria Ghana Algeria Senegal CIV wild cards could be Morocco(if they can ever get it together with all their talent), Egypt, Mali(with their U20 graduates), Cameroon(really don't want to see them again, but they will always be in the mix) I see CIV as rapidly declining by the way with a lot of key players past 30 and retiring. They don't have enough quality youth replacing their golden generation. It really wouldn't surprise me if CIV fail to qualify.
It's hard to predict who will qualify 2 years from now since there's a lot of variables and things going on. If you told me, in 2008, we would qualify for WC2010 I'd have laughed in your face. If you told me, in 2011, we'd be in Brazil I might have looked at you funny. Things go by very fast and I wouldn't be overconfident in my team's chances for 2018. We have a young core that'd be in its prime (or still young) in 2018, but we'd need to step things up in defense. More help in attack wouldn't hurt either. But we're really inconsistent and could mess it up. Nigeria has been mediocre since the WC, maybe we can attribute this to Keshi but they're far from a safe pick. You also have to consider they had the easiest campaigns in 2010 & 2014 IMO. And while it's true you often beat us, the last game was a "meaningless" 3rd place game in AFCON 2010. Still, I'd like to see Nigeria in 2018, unless it means we miss out. The team I expect to decline the most is Cameroon. They have some talented youngsters but a lot of the core would be either old or gone from international football, plus they seem really disogranized. If it's to watch the same embarassments in 2010 and especially 2014, I'd like to see some fresh blood in the WC. Senegal looks like a good pick, but IDK. They're very talented but unbalanced and still lack something to compete. I'd have said the same about CIV but they went and won the AFCON. Players like Doumbia, Bony & Gervinho would be in the 29-30 range, but they'd lose more and more of their "golden" generation. I wouldn't be surprised with either outcome. IMO, GHANA is really the safest bet to make it to 2018. Everything else is a toss up with some teams (Algeria, Nigeria) having more odds to make it but nothing concrete. Anything can happen in this format, I'd wait and see.
I think the draw will show a better panorama. Let's say Algeria get a group with Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda for example. I'd say that you are locked in Russia with a group like this.
With a group like this, we'd cruise to 15-16pts and go to Russia but IDK if we'd be so lucky. We could also get a group against Nigeria/Cameroon, DRC, South Africa/Morocco which will be tough to call. I still don't know if the groups will be included with the initial draw. I'd prefer the draw to take place when all 20 teams are known and give teams chances to improve their rankings.
A lot is riding on the 'Iheanacho' generation coming good. Its premature at the moment, but I have high hopes. Agreed. But surprisingly a great batch of young players in the current squad that actually seems to be working for the coach. The only key player getting old is Stephane Mbia. The rest will be in their prime (Nkoulou, Choupo-Moting, Aboubakar). The Barca youth aren't in the picture yet, but hopefully they will be. Especially Kaptoum and Enguene. Dongou seems adamant to derail his club and international career. Yaya Toure the only big loss. I doubt he'll be up for 2018. I guess Serey Die and Cheikh Tiote are on the wrong side of 30 and no quality midfielders seem to be in the picture. That said attackingwise Cote d'Ivoire is set till 2022, while the Elephants have never had such a good batch of young defenders (Kanon, Bailly, Aurier, Akpa Akpro, Dja Djedje, Kone, Kessie). The midfield options are beyond pathetic after 2018... Senegal will have an EPL loaded team. Transfermarkt has them as the most expensive African team. And stocks of players like Gueye, Konate, Kouyate, Mane, Babacar will only rise. On paper this is an elite team. But can they play like one?
According to a headline I read on the Ghana site, the final round 3 will be drawn at a later date. This only makes sense, and is a relief if true. Hopefully Nigeria can gain points and get a seed, although I don't know how many matches we will have to do this since the 2 legged second round is in November, and I assume the draw would be shortly after. So we would have the 2 matches for round 2 WCQ and 1 or 2 ANCQ matches plus a friendly or two possibly.
The format for Tomorrow's draw is known and confirmed: http://resources.fifa.com/mm/docume..._drawprocedures_15-01738_102_en_fr_french.pdf Ofiicial document from FIFA. It's in French, but there should be an English version of it. To recap, the draw will only concern round 1 & 2, meaning no group stage draw for now. Another thing to mention is teams have been split into 5 pots: Pot 1 [1 to 13] : Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Congo DR, Mali Pot 1 [14 to 20] : Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda Pot 2 [21 to 27]: Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya Pot 4 [28 to 40]: Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Swaziland Pot 5 [41 to 53]: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sao Tome e Principe, Comoros, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti Pot 4 & 5 are the ones concerned with round 1. They'll face off against each other (with pot 4 teams hosting the return legs). In the same time, they'll also be drawn against teams from pot 1 to know the possible fixtures of round 2. For example, Algeria could be drawn with Ethiopia/Comoros (just an example) and will face off the winner in round 2 and so on. Pot 1 teams will host the return leg. Pot 2 teams will face off against pot 3 teams in the 2nd round. Pot 2 teams will be the ones hosting the return leg. The 20 teams qualifying to the 3rd round will be split into 4 pots and 5 groups, each group winner booking its ticket to Russia 2018. There's no date yet for the GS draw, we just know it'll be anounced after round 2 is done. It should be done somewhere next year, giving ample chances for teams to improve their standings. Round 1 will take place between 5 -13 Occtober 2015 Round 2: 9-17 November 2015 Round 3: 3 October 2016 - 14 November 2017
Nice situation for Morocco, who will not face any powerhouse. The most difficult team for them is probably South Africa
I'd say pot 3 teams should be ecstatic with this. 3/7 chances to face either EQG, Uganda or Rwanda, all 3 of which are beatable. Morocco would fancy their chances over these three and declining Zambia/BFA. RSA & Gabon could be tougher, but doable.
Zambia and Burkina Faso declined a lot since their fantastic African Cup of Nations. I see Gabon and South Africa as the main adversaries for them. Especially for Angola and Morocco, who i think are the best two teams in this pot.