Zebras to know 2022 World Cup opponent today

Mqondisi Dube | Monday July 29, 2019 11:02

Zebras players after their goaless draw against Zambia during the 2020 CHAN qualifier game played at the Francistown sports complex PIC: KEOAGILE BONANG

The draw for the preliminary round will be conducted in Cairo today, and sees lowly seeded teams get the ball rolling for the tournament, which will be held in Qatar.

Botswana is in Pot 2, meaning they will meet any of Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Togo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea and eSwatini.

In Pot 2, Botswana is joined by Comoros, Burundi, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mauritius, Gambia, South Sudan, Chad, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea.

Pot 1 has countries ranked between number 27 and 40 in Africa, while the second pot is for teams that lie below position 40.

Zebras and other teams in Pot 2 will enjoy home advantage first during two-legged September ties. The 14 preliminary round winners and the 26 countries who received byes, will be split into 10 groups of four after a fresh draw with the first matches next March.

Group winners then go into five two-leg playoffs with the winners qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.