2018 World Cup qualifiers: Nigeria to play Djibouti or Swaziland

Nigeria will play Djibouti or Swaziland in a two-leg knockout tie in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign following the African zone draw made in St Petersburg, Russia on Saturday.

Neighbours, Cameroon will have to negotiate a tricky two-leg knockout tie against Somalia or Niger. Somalia and Niger will meet in the first round and the winners play the Indomitable Lions over two
legs in the second.

South Sudan, who joined FIFA in 2012, will face Mauritania in their first-ever World Cup qualifier, with the opening leg at home. The winners play Tunisia in the second round.



African champions Ivory Coast must face Liberia or Guinea-Bissau.

Angola will meet South Africa in arguably the toughest of the second-round meetings.

The 26 lowest-ranked African teams take part in the first round and the winners join the remaining 27 African sides in the second stage, again played on a knockout basis with each tie over two legs played from Nov. 9-17.

This creates a potential pitfall for the established teams who run the risk of being eliminated because of a single shock result.

In the third round, the 20 teams are divided into five groups of four and the winners of each group qualify for the World Cup.

(Reuters)