The 2014 World Cup Qualifying Draw Recap - Africa

During the next couple of days Posts By Panos will be looking at the 2014 World Cup Qualifying draw that occurred recently in Brazil. This is where the road begins for all of the countries who are looking to qualify for the 2014 spectacle. Let's begin our analysis with a look at Africa.

Africa

First Round

The bottom twenty-four African nations, according to the FIFA rankings, are placed in a home and away playoff tie. The winners from the First Round will then be placed in groups with the remaining twenty-eight African teams who received a bye into the Second Round. Below are all the first round matches:

Match 1 - Seychelles - Kenya

Match 2 - Guinea - Togo

Match 3 - Djibouti - Namibia

Match 4 - Mauritius - Liberia

Match 5 - Comoros - Mozambique

Match 6 - Equatorial Guinea - Madagascar

Match 7 - Somalia - Ethiopia

Match 8 - Lesotho - Burundi

Match 9 - Eritrea - Rwanda

Match 10 - Swaziland - Congo DR

Match 11 - Sao Tome e Principe - Congo

Match 12 - Chad - Tanzania

Best Matchup - Guinea - Togo

Game I Would Love to Attend - Djibouti - Namibia

Game I Even Know Nothing About - Sao Tome e Principe - Congo

Minnow That Could Surprise - Liberia . . . . for the love of George Weah

Second Round

As mentioned above the twelve winners of the home and away playoff leg will join the remaining twenty-eight African nations in ten groups of four. The group winners will then advance to the Third Round. Here are the groups:

Group A
South Africa
Botswana
Central African Republic
Winner of Match 7

Group B
Tunisia
Cape Verde Islands
Sierra Leone
Winner of Match 6

Group C
Ivory Coast
Morocco
Gambia
Winner of Match 12

Group D
Ghana
Zambia
Sudan
Winner of Match 8

Group E
Burkina Faso
Gabon
Niger
Winner of Match 11

Group F
Nigeria
Malawi
Winner of Match 1
Winner of Match 3

Group G
Egypt
Guinea
Zimbabwe
Winner of Match 5

Group H
Algeria
Mali
Benin
Winner of Match 9

Group I
Cameroon
Libya
Winner of Match 2
Winner of Match 10

Group J
Senegal
Uganda
Angola
Winner of Match 4

Group of Death - Ivory Coast, Morocco, Gambia, Chad/Tanzania (Group C)
Group of Weakness - Tunisia, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde Islands, Equatorial Guinea/Madagascar (Group B)
Game I Would Love to Attend - Morocco - Ivory Coast
Game I Even Know Nothing About - Sierra Leone - Cape Verde Islands
Minnow That Could Surprise - Sudan

Fearless Predictions for the Third Round:


South African
Tunisia
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Gabon
Nigeria
Egypt
Algeria
Cameroon
Senegal

The remaining ten teams are fighting for the FIVE spots that are allocated for Africa at the 2014 World Cup. This should be one of the most fascinating qualification cycles in recent memories as more and more African countries are improving their football teams and thus, the qualification process will only get harder and harder.