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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) section of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification sees teams competing for five berths in the final tournament in South Africa. The qualification stage doubles as the qualification stage for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, with fifteen teams qualifying for the finals to be held in Angola.
In total there are 53 nations participating. However, due to the presence of the two tournaments' respective hosts, each competition has 52 teams. South Africa qualifies automatically as host for the World Cup,[1] and Angola qualifies as host for the African Cup of Nations. Both are nevertheless competing in the qualifying phase, to attempt to qualify for the other tournament.
This is the first time since 1934 that the hosts will compete in World Cup qualifiers. Angola's situation mirrors that of Egypt in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in Africa, which doubled as the qualifiers to the 2006 African Cup of Nations hosted by Egypt.[2]
[edit] First Round
-
Five knockout ties were originally required, involving the ten lowest ranked African countries (based on FIFA rankings as of July 2007). The actual draw was apparently conducted one day before the format was announced by CAF. The pairings were:[3]
São Tomé and Príncipe and the Central African Republic both withdrew in early September. As a result, Swaziland and Seychelles (the highest ranked of the ten nations) were no longer required to play in this round, and the teams they were originally matched against, Somalia and Djibouti, were redrawn to play each other instead.[4] The tie between Djibouti and Somalia was played as a one leg tie in Djibouti, as Somalia was not deemed suitable for FIFA matches; the other two ties were played as two leg ties.
[edit] Second Round
-
The 48 qualifiers (45 direct entrants plus 3 winners of the first round) were split into 12 groups of 4 in the draw held in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007. These teams will play a full round-robin in 2008, with the 12 groups winners and 8 best runners-up advancing to the third round. As not all groups are of equal size after the withdrawal of Eritrea, when ranking the runners-up, their results against their group's 4th placed team will not be counted.[5]
[edit] Seeding
One team from each of the following pots were drawn into each group.[6]
[edit] Group 1
On the next matchday (6/7 September):
- Cameroon will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Cape Verde.
[edit] Group 2
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- Guinea and Kenya are tied on their overall goal difference, and thus are ranked by their number of goals scored:
- Guinea – Overall GD = +3, GF = 6
- Kenya – Overall GD = +3, GF = 5
Kenya's participation in the group is under threat, following a court ruling upholding the appointment of a group led by Sam Nyamweya to run the Kenya Football Federation. This is contrary to FIFA's rules as the appointment was made by a government minister, and FIFA recognises a separate group led by Mohammed Hatimy as the true executive of the KFF.[7]
On the next matchday (6/7 September):
- Namibia will be eliminated if they do not beat Kenya.
- Zimbabwe will be eliminated if they lose (if Kenya vs Namibia is a draw or a Namibian win, Zimbabwe may finish 2nd in this group, but will be unable to finish in the top eight runners-up, and will be eliminated).
[edit] Group 3
| Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
 Benin |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
+4 |
9 |
 Angola |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
+2 |
7 |
 Uganda |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
7 |
 Niger |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
−6 |
0 |
|
|
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- Angola and Uganda are ranked by their overall goal difference:
- Angola – Overall GD = +2
- Uganda – Overall GD = 0
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Benin will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Angola and Uganda does not beat Niger.
[edit] Group 4
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- South Africa and Sierra Leone are ranked by their overall goal difference:
- South Africa – Overall GD = 0
- Sierra Leone – Overall GD = −2
Note:
- South Africa are automatically qualified as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, they are subject to the same rules as other nations for continuation to the next stage of the qualifiers. Failure to advance from this group would eliminate them from the qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- Sierra Leone will be eliminated if they lose AND South Africa beat Nigeria.
- Equatorial Guinea will be eliminated if they lose to Sierra Leone.
- South Africa will be eliminated from the qualification tournament if
- they draw with or lose to Nigeria AND Sierra Leone beat Equatorial Guinea.
- they lose to Nigeria by more than 4 goals AND Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone draw (or if RSA lose by exactly 4 and EQG score at least 2 goals more than RSA in their respective matches).
[edit] Group 5
| Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
 Ghana |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
+4 |
9 |
 Libya |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
+3 |
9 |
 Gabon |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
+1 |
6 |
 Lesotho |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
−8 |
0 |
|
|
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- Ghana and Libya are ranked by their overall goal difference:
- Ghana – Overall GD = +4
- Libya – Overall GD = +3
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Ghana will ensure qualification to the next round if they defeat Libya (either as group winners or as one of the best eight runners-up).
- Gabon will be eliminated if they lose to Lesotho AND the match between Ghana and Libya ends in a draw.
[edit] Group 6
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- Senegal will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Algeria and Gambia don't beat Liberia.
- Liberia will be eliminated if they lose to Gambia OR if they draw and Senegal don't beat Algeria.
[edit] Group 7
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Côte d'Ivoire will ensure first place in the group if they beat Mozambique and Botswana fail to beat Madagascar.
- Mozambique will be eliminated if they lose to Côte d'Ivoire AND Botswana beat Madagascar.
- Madagascar will be eliminated if they lose to Botswana OR if they draw and Mozambique beat Côte d'Ivoire.
- Botswana will be eliminated if they lose to Madagascar AND Côte d'Ivoire beat Mozambique as they will not be able to win the group or finish in the top 8 runners-up.
On 19 March 2008, FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Malagasy Football Federation (FMF).[8] The suspension was lifted on 19 May 2008.[9]
[edit] Group 8
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- Morocco and Rwanda are ranked by their overall goal difference:
- Morocco – Overall GD = +6
- Rwanda – Overall GD = +4
On the next matchday (6/7 September):
- Morocco will be assured qualification to the next round if they defeat Ethiopia AND Mauritania do not win (Morocco will either win the group or advance as one of the best 8 runners-up).
- Ethiopia will be eliminated if they lose to Morocco AND Rwanda do not lose to Mauritania.
[edit] Group 9
Madagascar v 
Comoros
Somalia v 
Swaziland
São Tomé and Príncipe v 
Central African Republic
Sierra Leone v 
Guinea-Bissau
Seychelles v 
Djibouti
Comoros
Somalia
Guinea-Bissau
