2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF first round

The first round of CAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 7 to 17 October 2015.^[1]

Format

A total of 26 teams (teams ranked 28–53 in the CAF entrant list) played home-and-away over two legs. The 13 winners advanced to the second round.

Seeding

The draw for the first round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2015 (shown in parentheses).^[5] The 26 teams are seeded into two pots:

Pot 4 contained the teams ranked 1–13 (i.e., 28–40 in the CAF entrant list).
Pot 5 contained the teams ranked 14–26 (i.e., 41–53 in the CAF entrant list).

Each tie contained a team from Pot 4 and a team from Pot 5, with the team from Pot 4 hosting the second leg.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Pot 4	Pot 5
Niger (96) Ethiopia (101) Malawi (108) Sierra Leone (111) Namibia (114) Kenya (116) Botswana (120) Madagascar (122) Mauritania (128) Burundi (131) Lesotho (131) Guinea-Bissau (133) Swaziland (138)	Tanzania (139) Gambia (143) Liberia (161) Central African Republic (170) Chad (173) Mauritius (180) Seychelles (186) Comoros (187) São Tomé and Príncipe (189) South Sudan (195) Eritrea (204) Somalia (205) Djibouti (207)

Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Somalia	0–6	Niger	0–2	0–4
South Sudan	1–5	Mauritania	1–1	0–4
Gambia	2–3	Namibia	1–1	1–2
São Tomé and Príncipe	1–3	Ethiopia	1–0	0–3
Chad	2–2 (a)	Sierra Leone	1–0	1–2
Comoros	1–1 (a)	Lesotho	0–0	1–1
Djibouti	1–8	Swaziland	0–6	1–2
Eritrea	1–5	Botswana	0–2	1–3
Seychelles	0–3	Burundi	0–1	0–2
Liberia	4–2	Guinea-Bissau	1–1	3–1
Central African Republic	2–5	Madagascar	0–3	2–2
Mauritius	2–5	Kenya	2–5	0–0
Tanzania	2–1	Malawi	2–0	0–1

9 October 2015 (2015-10-09)

15:30 UTC+3

Somalia	0–2	Niger
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Maâzou 58', 61' (pen.)

Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Haithem Kossaï (Tunisia)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

16:00 UTC+1

Niger	4–0	Somalia
Cissé 13', 67' Maâzou 18', 32'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Stade Général Seyni Kountché, Niamey

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Falou Galasse Kane (Senegal)

Niger won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cameroon.

7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)

16:30 UTC+3

South Sudan	1–1^{[note 2]}	Mauritania
Abui Pretino 5'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Bagili 3'

Juba Stadium, Juba

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Rajab Bakasambe (Uganda)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

17:00 UTC±0

Mauritania	4–0	South Sudan
Ahmed 3' Bagili 61' M. Samba 84' Diakité 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Stade Olympique, Nouakchott

Attendance: 9,000

Referee: Fidel Gomes (Guinea-Bissau)

Mauritania won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Tunisia.

9 October 2015 (2015-10-09)

17:00 UTC±0

Gambia	1–1	Namibia
Jammeh 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Stephanus 61'

Independence Stadium, Bakau

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Ousmane Karembe (Mali)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

16:00 UTC+2

Namibia	2–1	Gambia
Stephanus 42' Somaeb 64'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Dibba 9'

Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Joshua Bondo (Botswana)

Namibia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Guinea.

8 October 2015 (2015-10-08)

15:00 UTC±0

São Tomé and Príncipe	1–0	Ethiopia
Leal 86'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho, São Tomé

Attendance: 4,550

Referee: Alhadi Mahamat (Chad)

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)

16:00 UTC+3

Ethiopia	3–0	São Tomé and Príncipe
Fekadu 1' Panom 47' (pen.) Lok 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 23,840

Referee: Jean Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)

Ethiopia won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Congo.

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

15:30 UTC+1

Chad	1–0	Sierra Leone
Djimrangar 47'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya, N'Djamena

Attendance: 2,664

Referee: Kokou Fagla (Togo)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

15:00 UTC+1

Sierra Leone	2–1	Chad
Kamara 70' Sesay 81'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Djimrangar 45+2'

Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt (Nigeria)^{[note 3]}

Attendance: 100

Referee: Aboubacar Bangoura (Guinea)

2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.

7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)

15:00 UTC+3

Comoros	0–0	Lesotho
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Stade de Moroni, Moroni

Attendance: 2,800

Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

18:00 UTC+2

Lesotho	1–1	Comoros
Seturumane 18'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	M'Changama 70'

Setsoto Stadium, Maseru

Attendance: 480

Referee: Samuel Chirindza (Mozambique)

1–1 on aggregate. Comoros won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Ghana.

9 October 2015 (2015-10-09)

16:00 UTC+3

Djibouti	0–6	Swaziland
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Mkhontfo 45' Ndzinisa 61' S. Dlamini 74' Hlatjwako 76' T. Tsabedze 83' Lukhele 84'

Stade National El-Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon, Djibouti

Attendance: 10,050

Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

17 October 2015 (2015-10-17)^{[note 4]}

16:00 UTC+2

Swaziland	2–1	Djibouti
Hlatjwako 7', 38'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Liban 21'

Somhlolo National Stadium, Lobamba

Attendance: 2,141

Referee: Ganesh Chutooree (Mauritius)

Swaziland won 8–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Nigeria.

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

16:00 UTC+3

Eritrea	0–2	Botswana
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Moyana 22' Mogorosi 64'

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 9,950

Referee: Ibrahim Nour El Din (Egypt)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

20:00 UTC+2

Botswana	3–1	Eritrea
Ngele 15', 79' Mogorosi 21'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Goitom 9'

Francistown Stadium, Francistown

Attendance: 15,073

Referee: Nelson Fred (Seychelles)

Botswana won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Mali. ^{[note 5]}

7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)

16:30 UTC+4

Seychelles	0–1	Burundi
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Abdul Razak 15'

People's Stadium, Roche Caiman

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Lemma Nigussie (Ethiopia)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

15:00 UTC+2

Burundi	2–0	Seychelles
Abdul Razak 71' (pen.), 81'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura

Attendance: 6,095

Referee: Hafiz Abdelghani Alamen (Sudan)

Burundi won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.

8 October 2015 (2015-10-08)

16:00 UTC±0

Liberia	1–1	Guinea-Bissau
Jebor 35' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Baldé 62'

Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia

Attendance: 10,100

Referee: Fabrício Duarte (Cape Verde)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

16:00 UTC±0

Guinea-Bissau	1–3	Liberia
Cassamá 45+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Jebor 9', 12', 90+5'

Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Ferdinand Udoh (Nigeria)

Liberia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Ivory Coast.

10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)

14:30 UTC+3

Central African Republic	0–3	Madagascar
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Rabeson 26' Rakotoharimalala 39' Paul 66'

Mahamasina Municipal Stadium, Antananarivo (Madagascar)^{[note 6]}

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13)

14:30 UTC+3

Madagascar	2–2	Central African Republic
Ramanamahefa 18' Andrianantenaina 37'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Dagoulou 7' Malick 45+1'

Mahamasina Municipal Stadium, Antananarivo

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Daniel Bennett (South Africa)

Madagascar won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Senegal.

7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)

18:30 UTC+4

Mauritius	2–5	Kenya
Sophie 67' (pen.) Bru 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Omolo 19', 82' Masika 23' Shakava 49' Olunga 87'

Anjalay Stadium, Belle Vue Harel

Attendance: 2,300

Referee: Duncan Lengani (Malawi)

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)

16:00 UTC+3

Kenya	0–0	Mauritius
	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Mandeng Cosmas (Cameroon)

Kenya won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cape Verde.

7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)

16:00 UTC+3

Tanzania	2–0	Malawi
Samatta 19' Ulimwengu 23'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar es Salaam

Attendance: 11,474

Referee: Hagi Wiish (Somalia)

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)

14:00 UTC+2

Malawi	1–0	Tanzania
Banda 42'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)

Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre

Attendance: 7,656

Referee: Hélder Martins de Carvalho (Angola)

Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Algeria.

Goalscorers

There were 68 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.62 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Notes

^ Somalia played their home leg in Ethiopia due to the Somali Civil War.
^ The South Sudan v Mauritania match was suspended after 10 minutes due to torrential rain, with the score 1–1 at the time. The match was resumed on 8 October 2015, 11:00 UTC+3.^[6]
^ Sierra Leone played their home leg in Nigeria due to the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.
^ Swaziland v Djibouti were to originally kick off on 13 October 2015, 19:00 UTC+3, but has been postponed to 17 October 2015, due to the inability of Djibouti's national team to arrive on time for the game.^[7]
^ After the Eritrea-Botswana match, ten Eritrea players refused to return home and sought asylum in Botswana.^[8]
^ The Central African Republic played their home leg in Madagascar due to the Central African Republic Civil War.^[9]

References

^ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: Procedure for the preliminary draw". CAF. 21 July 2015.
^ "Draw Procedures – African Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2015.
^ "Results of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Preliminary Draw". CAF. 25 July 2015.
^ "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – July 2015 (CAF)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
^ "World Cup debutants South Sudan draw". CAFonline.com. 8 October 2015.
^ "Swaziland, Djibouti W/Cup Qualifier Postponed". Complete Sports. 13 October 2015.
^ "Eritrean football players seek asylum in Botswana". BBC. 15 October 2015.
^ "Qualifying match between Central African Republic and Madagascar rescheduled". FIFA.com. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015.