(Reuters) - African champions Algeria will begin their bid for a place at the 2022 World Cup against tiny Djibouti in October after the draw was made for the qualifying group stage in Cairo on Tuesday. Only the top team in each of the 10 pools advance to the final knockout stages, where they will play home and away for a place in Qatar, and Algeria will be confident of advancing from Group A that also contains Burkina Faso and Niger. Senegal also have a favourable draw in Group H along with Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia and Togo, the latter a shadow of the side that qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Nigeria are in Group C along with Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic and Liberia, which should cause few alarms.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 21, 2020 18:33 UTC