WORLD CUP SETBACK FOR SIHLANGU

MBABANE – Sihlangu’s unimpressive ranking has cost them automatic qualification into the group stages of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

African teams will know their opponents for the qualifiers of the Qatar global showpiece during a draw to be conducted in Cairo, Egypt, tomorrow.
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the 28 lowest-ranked sides in the continent will first contest a preliminary round over two legs in September this year, with the 14 winners advancing to the group stage. Sihlangu, who are in position 39 out of 54 in Africa, are among the 28 lowest-ranked nations that will begin their journey in the first hurdle.

Other countries in the same boat as Eswatini include Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Comoros, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Burundi, Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, South Sudan, Chad or Sao Tome and Principe.
If Kostadin Papic’s men survive the first hurdle, they will join the 26 highest-ranked sides in a 40-team, 10-group pool phase that will be played over 18 months.
victors qualifying

The group winners will then be drawn into five play-off ties over two legs with the victors qualifying for the World Cup. The first leg is hosted by the lower-ranked country.
For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, there were two preliminary rounds to cut the field down to 20 countries, who then contested the five places for Africa in a group competition.
Round one for the 28 member associations to play knockout matches will be in September.

The two phases of the qualifiers will be played between March 2020 and November 2021. Africa’s World Cup qualifiers will overlap with qualifiers for the next Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2021 but a suggestion to combine them was rejected by CAF’s executive committee.

Meanwhile, in the AFCON qualifiers, which begin in November, Sihlangu were seeded. They will not play the preliminary round, but will start in the group stages to face the trio of Guinea-Bissau, Congo and Senegal. The first test will be against Guinea-Bissau. Before the draw for the AFCON qualifiers coach Papic had said it was good for the country to face big guns, as they would earn respect when they overcame the challenge.

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