2018 W/Cup Qualifier: FIFA Revert Rule, Return Nigeria To Pot 2
In a swift turn of events, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have now been reverted to Pot 2 of the Africa World Cup Qualifier group stage draw, slated for tomorrow, Friday 24th June in Cairo.
The Eagles were earlier placed in Pot 3 on Wednesday, alongside Congo, Morocco, Mali and South Africa following an appeal lodged by the Egyptian Football Association, for zoning the Pharaohs in Pot Two despite being the fifth best ranked team among the 20 teams.
However, on Thursday, the world football governing body, FIFA, released a statement reverting their earlier decision on ‘Special ranking’ which eventually returns Nigeria back to Pot 2.
The football body also detailed guidelines for the draws.
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The statement read: “The teams in Pot 4 will be drawn first. The team drawn first from Pot 4 will be placed in Group A, and its exact position in the group will be determined by a ball drawn from a second pot that will contain four balls with the position numbers 1-4.
“The team drawn second from Pot 4 will be placed in Group B, and its position in the group will also be determined by a ball drawn from the second pot. The team drawn third will be placed in Group C, and its position drawn from the second pot. The team drawn fourth will be placed in Group D, and its position drawn from the second pot. Finally, the team in the last ball in Pot 4 will be placed in Group E, and its position will again be drawn from the second pot.
“This very same procedure will then be applied for Pot 3, then for Pot 2, and finally for Pot 1. When the last ball containing the name of the final team in Pot 1 has been drawn and its position in Group E has been confirmed by drawing the last remaining ball in the second pot, the draw will be concluded.”
Of the 20 seeded African teams, five teams are expected to pick a ticket for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup. The teams are to be divided into five teams of four.
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The countries that finish top after the qualifying series which begins in October 2016, will represent Africa in Russia 2018.
The reverted seeding:
Pot 1: Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia
Pot 2: Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Congo DR, Nigeria, Mali
Pot 3: Cameroon, Morocco, Guinea, South Africa, Congo
Pot 4: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Gabon, Libya
