World Cup qualifiers seedings: Nigeria drop down to pot three

Nigeria will be in pot three of the Africa World Cup qualifier group stage draw billed for Cairo tomorrow. The Super Eagles were earlier placed in Pot Two alongside Cape Verde, Egypt, Mali and Congo DR. But with the Egyptian Football Association lodging a formal complaint to express their discontent after being zoned in Pot Two despite being the fifth best ranked team among the 20 teams – the Pharaohs have now been promoted to Pot One with Tunisia dropping to Pot Two. Five teams remain in contention to qualify for Russia 2018 through Africa, with those sides to be divided into five groups of four. The top team automatically picks a ticket to the competition. For the draw, Ghana, Senegal, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Egypt make up Pot 1, while Cameroon, Tunisia, Congo DR and Cape Verde join Guinea in Pot Two. Nigeria, Congo, Morocco, Mali and South Africa are in Pot 3 while Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Gabon and Libya complete Pot 4.