*Thank you for following our live updates of the African draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers! 


Group A: Tunisia, Libya, DR Congo, Guinea 

Group B: Zambia, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria 

Group C: Gabon, Mali, Ivory Coast, Morocco

Group D: Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde

Group E: Ghana, Congo, Egypt, Uganda    


17:33 The draw starts. 

17:30 Former Senegal midfielder Aliou Cisse, one of the 2002 World Cup stars, will also take part in the draw. 

17:27 Tunisia's veteran Polish coach Henryk Kasperczak also takes to the stage to help in the draw. 

17:24 Arsenal's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny will pick names from the pots. He is having a chat with Ramzy before the draw starts. 

17:20 A brief summary of the participant teams is displayed on the screen. 

17:12 Gordon Savic, head of FIFA World Cup qualifying competitions, will explain the draw procedures. He asks Ramzy about his experience during Egypt's last World Cup participation in 1990. 

17:11 The attendees observe a minute of silence. 

17:10 A tribute is paid to late Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi, who died on 7 June at the age of 54. Keshi led Nigeria to the African Cup of Nations title in 2013. 

17:05 A video footage of the history of African teams at the World Cup is displayed. 

17:02 Hani Abou-Reida, FIFA's executive committee member who said he would run for the Egyptian Football Association chairman later this year, is giving an opening speech. 

17:00 The ceremony is presented by former Egypt skipper Hany Ramzy, now a football coach. 

17:00 The draw ceremony is underway at Cairo's Marriott Hotel. 

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Success-starved Egypt will learn its fate as the anticipated African draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers takes place in Cairo on Friday.

The Pharaohs are incensed by a special FIFA ranking that put them in pot 2, meaning they will clash with one of the following top guns: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal or Tunisia.   

Egypt were hoping the 8 June ranking would be alerted after FIFA said earlier this month they would look into their complaint. The world governing body eventually rejected their appeal and stuck to the special ranking.

The 20 African countries that made it to the final qualifying phase will be drawn into five groups with four teams in each group, with the group winners securing a place at the 2018 Russia finals.

Egypt have not reached world’s most prestigious football showpiece since making the last of their two appearances in 1990.

The seeding of the African teams according to the 8 June ranking

Pot 1:1-Algeria, 2-Ivory Coast, 3-Ghana, 4-Senegal and 5-Tunisia

Pot 2:6-Cap Verde, 7-Egypt, 8-DR Congo, 9-Nigeria and 10-Mali

Pot3:11-Cameroon, 12-Morocco, 13-Guinea, 14-South Africa and 15-Congo

Pot 4:16-Uganda, 17-Burkina Faso, 18-Zambia, 19-Gabon, 20-Libya

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