African champions Algeria get favourable draw in World Cup qualifiers

African champions Algeria will begin their bid for a place at the 2022 World Cup against tiny Djibouti in October after the draw was made for the qualifying group stage in Cairo on Tuesday.

Only the top team in each of the 10 pools advance to the final knockout stages, where they will play home and away for a place in Qatar, and Algeria will be confident of advancing from Group A that also contains Burkina Faso and Niger.

Senegal also have a favourable draw in Group H along with Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia and Togo, the latter a shadow of the side that qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Nigeria are in Group C along with Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic and Liberia, which should cause few alarms.

One of Cameroon and Ivory Coast will be eliminated at this stage after they were drawn together in Group D along with Mozambique and Malawi.

Ghana and South Africa headline Group G, having also been paired together in the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, so will be regular combatants over the next 18 months.

They must also face Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, who are both tricky opponents.

North African powerhouse Tunisia are in Group B with Zambia, Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea, while Egypt have been handed a difficult road in a pool with Gabon, Libya and Angola.

The qualifiers will get under way in October, with the pool stage completed 12 months later.

The 10 group winners will then face-off in November 2021, with the five victors of those knockout matches sealing a place at the World Cup.

The draw:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Group J

Algeria

Tunisia

Nigeria

Cameroon

Mali

Egypt

Ghana

Senegal

Morocco

Democratic Republic of Congo

Burkina Faso

Zambia

CapeVerde Islands

Ivory Coast

Uganda

Gabon

South Africa

Congo-Brazzaville

Guinea

Benin

Niger

Mauritania

Central African Republic

Mozambique

Kenya

Libya

Zimbabwe

Namibia

Guinea-Bissau

Madagascar

Djibouti

Equatorial Guinea

Liberia

Malawi

Rwanda

Angola

Ethiopia

Togo

Sudan

Tanzania