African World Cup Qualifiers draw to be held on 22 January

CAIRO-8 January 2022: All eyes will be on the Cameroonian city of Douala, where the draw of the third round of the African World Cup qualifiers will be held on 22 January.

“The five highest ranked teams will play against the five least ranked teams (the first leg will be played at home of the lower ranked teams).” The Confederation of African Football (CAF) statement said.

According to the FIFA ranking published in November 2021, the Pharaohs are placed in the sixth ranking of the qualified 10 teams and will face one of the top five ranking nations, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Nigeria.

Egypt will play the first leg at home and they will be required to win the ticket for the World Cup away from home.

The play-offs format does not bring good memories for the Egyptian fans as Egypt suffered a 7-3 loss on aggregate when they faced Ghana in the 2014 World Cup play-offs.

Egypt hopes for a fourth appearance in the biggest competition in the world and the second straight appearance for the first time in the history of the Pharaohs.