Sports
Nigeria know 2018 World Cup opponents June 24
In from Nifemi Daniel . . .
The Super Eagles would know their opponents for the group stage of the Russia 2018 World Cup as world soccer ruling body, FIFA, picked June 24, 2016 as date for the draw.
According to a statement issued by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Friday, the draw for the third round of African Zone qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia will be held at CAF headquarters in Cairo on June 24, 2016.
“This stage of the preliminary competition will involve 20 teams drawn into five four-team groups, with sides playing each other home and away on a round-robin basis. All five group winners will qualify automatically for Russia 2018.
The statement added that: “This is the latest step in a qualifying campaign that began for Africa in October 2015 with 53 nations taking part. Round 1 was contested by the 26 lowest-ranked member associations, the 13 winners from which went on to a second stage against the confederation’s remaining 27 nations.”
Read also: Swazi coach: Eagles’ formation disrupts our game
FIFA however maintained that the criteria for the draw will be announced soon.
“Just 20 teams now remain from that second round, all of whom will be eagerly awaiting this Round 3 draw, the procedures for which – including pots and seeded teams – will be announced in due course,” the statement concluded.
The 20 teams are Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Mali and Tunisia.
Others are DR Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Uganda, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Islands, Congo, Libya and Morocco.
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