Nigeria Earns Automatic Qualification to Next Stage of World Cup Qualifiers

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have secured a place in the next qualifying stage for the 2018 World Cup billed to hold in Russia, without kicking a ball. The continent’s football governing body, Confederation of African Football (CAF)  announced on Tuesday that the 27 elite teams in Africa (based on the latest FIFA rankings) will not participate in the preliminary qualifying matches for the World Cup. Nigeria dropped from 43rd to 57th in the latest FIFA rankings, and 10th in Africa, but it was enough to see them boycott the preliminary stages. CAF will be in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday along with FIFA and football governing bodies from other continents to conduct the draw for the qualifiers. CAF said in a press release on Tuesday that 53 teams would be featuring in the qualifiers, and 26 of them would play the preliminary round from October 5 to 13. “The 26 lowest ranked participating associations from the region will contest in round one. The 13 highest ranked teams and the 13 lowest ranked teams will be drawn against each other to play over two legs on a home and away basis,” the statement read. Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea Bissau and Swaziland are ranked as the best of the bottom 26 and will occupy Pot 1 on Saturday. Pot 2 will contain the last 13 teams in the rankings: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti.