2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Result:

  Countries that qualified for the 2010 World Cup and 2010 African Cup of Nations

  Countries that qualified for the 2010 African Cup of Nations

  Countries that did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup or 2010 African Cup of Nations

  Countries that withdrew or were disqualified

■ Host nation of the 2010 World Cup
◆ Host nation of the 2010 African Cup of Nations

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) section of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw teams compete for five berths in the final tournament in South Africa. The qualification stage doubled as the qualification stage for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, with fifteen teams qualifying for the finals held in Angola.

In total, 53 nations participated; however, due to the presence of the two tournaments' respective hosts, 52 teams were involved in each competition. South Africa qualified automatically as host for the World Cup,^[1] and Angola qualified as host for the African Cup of Nations. Both nevertheless competed in the qualifying phase to attempt to qualify for the other tournament.

This was the first time since 1934 that the hosts would compete in World Cup qualifiers. Angola's situation mirrored 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]

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]

•  Madagascar v  Comoros
•  Somalia v  Swaziland
•  São Tomé and Príncipe v  Central African Republic
•  Sierra Leone v  Guinea-Bissau
•  Seychelles v  Djibouti

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.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Madagascar	10–2	Comoros	6–2	4–0
Djibouti	1–0	Somalia	1–0	N/A
Sierra Leone	1–0	Guinea-Bissau	1–0	0–0

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. Teams in each group played a home-and-away round-robin in 2008, with the 12 groups winners and 8 best runners-up advancing to the third round. As not all groups were of equal size after the exclusion of Ethiopia and the withdrawal of Eritrea, when ranking the runners-up, their results against their group's 4th placed team would not be counted.^[5]

Seeding

One team from each of the following pots were drawn into each group.^[6]

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Cameroon 6 5 1 0 14 2 +12 16  Cape Verde 6 3 0 3 7 8 −1 9  Tanzania 6 2 2 2 9 6 +3 8  Mauritius 6 0 1 5 3 17 −14 1

Cameroon  — 2 – 0 5 – 0 2 – 1 Cape Verde  1 – 2 — 3 – 1 1 – 0 Mauritius  0 – 3 0 – 1 — 1 – 4 Tanzania  0 – 0 3 – 1 1 – 1 —

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Guinea 6 3 2 1 9 5 +4 11  Kenya 6 3 1 2 8 5 +3 10  Zimbabwe 6 1 3 2 4 6 −2 6  Namibia 6 2 0 4 7 12 −5 6

Guinea  — 3 – 2 4 – 0 0 – 0 Kenya  2 – 0 — 1 – 0 2 – 0 Namibia  1 – 2 2 – 1 — 4 – 2 Zimbabwe  0 – 0 0 – 0 2 – 0 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Zimbabwe and Namibia are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Benin 6 4 0 2 12 8 +4 12  Angola 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10  Uganda 6 3 1 2 8 9 −1 10  Niger 6 1 0 5 5 11 −6 3

Angola  — 3 – 0 3 – 1 0 – 0 Benin  3 – 2 — 2 – 0 4 – 1 Niger  1 – 2 0 – 2 — 3 – 1 Uganda  3 – 1 2 – 1 1 – 0 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Angola and Uganda are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Note: Angola were automatically qualified as hosts of the 2010 African Cup of Nations. However, they were subject to the same rules as other nations for continuation to the next stage of the qualifiers. Failure to advance from this group eliminated them from the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Nigeria 6 6 0 0 11 1 +10 18  South Africa 6 2 1 3 5 5 0 7  Sierra Leone 6 2 1 3 4 8 −4 7  Equatorial Guinea 6 1 0 5 4 10 −6 3

Equatorial Guinea  — 0 – 1 2 – 0 0 – 1 Nigeria  2 – 0 — 4 – 1 2 – 0 Sierra Leone  2 – 1 0 – 1 — 1 – 0 South Africa  4 – 1 0 – 1 0 – 0 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• South Africa and Sierra Leone are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Note: South Africa were automatically qualified as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, they were subject to the same rules as other nations for continuation to the next stage of the qualifiers. Failure to advance from this group eliminated them from the qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Ghana 6 4 0 2 11 5 +6 12  Gabon 6 4 0 2 8 3 +5 12  Libya 6 4 0 2 7 4 +3 12  Lesotho 6 0 0 6 2 16 −14 0

Gabon  — 2 – 0 2 – 0 1 – 0 Ghana  2 – 0 — 3 – 0 3 – 0 Lesotho  0 – 3 2 – 3 — 0 – 1 Libya  1 – 0 1 – 0 4 – 0 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Ghana, Gabon and Libya are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Algeria 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10  Gambia 6 2 3 1 6 3 +3 9  Senegal 6 2 3 1 9 7 +2 9  Liberia 6 0 3 3 4 12 −8 3

Algeria  — 1 – 0 3 – 0 3 – 2 Gambia  1 – 0 — 3 – 0 0 – 0 Liberia  0 – 0 1 – 1 — 2 – 2 Senegal  1 – 0 1 – 1 3 – 1 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Gambia and Senegal are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Ivory Coast 6 3 3 0 10 2 +8 12  Mozambique 6 2 2 2 7 5 +2 8  Madagascar 6 1 3 2 2 7 −5 6  Botswana 6 1 2 3 3 8 −5 5

Botswana  — 1 – 1 0 – 0 0 – 1 Ivory Coast  4 – 0 — 3 – 0 1 – 0 Madagascar  1 – 0 0 – 0 — 1 – 1 Mozambique  1 – 2 1 – 1 3 – 0 —

On 19 March 2008, FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Malagasy Football Federation (FMF).^[7] The suspension was lifted on 19 May 2008.^[8]

Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Morocco 4 3 0 1 11 5 +6 9  Rwanda 4 3 0 1 7 3 +4 9  Mauritania 4 0 0 4 2 12 −10 0

Mauritania  — 1 – 4 0 – 1 Morocco  4 – 1 — 2 – 0 Rwanda  3 – 0 3 – 1 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Morocco and Rwanda are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Ethiopia played four matches in this group, before FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) on 29 July 2008.^[9] On 12 September 2008, FIFA excluded the EFF from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and the results of their matches were cancelled.^[10] While it was not clear if they were also explicitly excluded from the 2010 African Cup of Nations, their failure to complete the remaining fixtures effectively eliminated them from the tournament.

Group 9

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Burkina Faso 6 5 1 0 14 5 +9 16  Tunisia 6 4 1 1 11 3 +8 13  Burundi 6 2 0 4 5 9 −4 6  Seychelles 6 0 0 6 4 17 −13 0

Burkina Faso  — 2 – 0 4 – 1 0 – 0 Burundi  1 – 3 — 1 – 0 0 – 1 Seychelles  2 – 3 1 – 2 — 0 – 2 Tunisia  1 – 2 2 – 1 5 – 0 —

Group 10

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Mali 6 4 0 2 13 8 +5 12  Sudan 6 3 0 3 9 9 0 9  Congo 6 3 0 3 7 8 −1 9  Chad 6 2 0 4 7 11 −4 6

Chad  — 2 – 1 1 – 2 1 – 3 Congo  2 – 0 — 1 – 0 1 – 0 Mali  2 – 1 4 – 2 — 3 – 0 Sudan  1 – 2 2 – 0 3 – 2 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Sudan and Congo are ranked by their overall goal difference.

On 28 March 2008, FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Chadian Football Federation (FTFA).^[11] The suspension was lifted on 7 May 2008.^[12]

Chad was disqualified from the 2010 African Nations Cup qualifiers after failing to show up for their away match against Sudan, despite security guarantees. The match was subsequently rescheduled. Only matches between Mali, Sudan and Congo were taken into account for the qualification of the second round of the preliminaries of the African Cup of Nations. However, Chad was still able qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[13] This could have led to complications if Chad had advanced to the next round or if Chad's exclusion the now alternate group standings had produced different group winners and impacted on the ranking of the second-placed side.

For African Cup of Nations qualification:

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Mali 4 2 0 2 9 6 +3 6  Sudan 4 2 0 2 5 6 −1 6  Congo 4 2 0 2 4 6 −2 6

Congo  — 1 – 0 1 – 0 Mali  4 – 2 — 3 – 0 Sudan  2 – 0 3 – 2 —

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Mali, Sudan and Congo are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 11

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Zambia 4 2 1 1 2 1 +1 7  Togo 4 2 0 2 8 3 +5 6  Swaziland 4 1 1 2 2 8 −6 4

Swaziland  — 2 – 1 0 – 0 Togo  6 – 0 — 1 – 0 Zambia  1 – 0 1 – 0 —

Eritrea withdrew from the qualifiers on 25 March 2008 and were not replaced.^[14]

Group 12

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Egypt 6 5 0 1 13 2 +11 15  Malawi 6 4 0 2 14 5 +9 12  DR Congo 6 3 0 3 14 6 +8 9  Djibouti 6 0 0 6 2 30 −28 0

DR Congo  — 5 – 1 0 – 1 1 – 0 Djibouti  0 – 6 — 0 – 4 0 – 3 Egypt  2 – 1 4 – 0 — 2 – 0 Malawi  2 – 1 8 – 1 1 – 0 —

Rankings of runners-up

Along with the 12 group winners, the 8 highest-ranked runners-up also advanced to the third round. Because not all groups contained an equal number of teams, only results against the first- and third-placed teams in each group counted.

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Rwanda	4	3	0	1	7	3	+4	9
2	Kenya	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3	7
9	Tunisia	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1	7
11	Togo	4	2	0	2	8	3	+5	6
5	Gabon	4	2	0	2	3	3	0	6
10	Sudan	4	2	0	2	5	6	−1	6
12	Malawi	4	2	0	2	3	4	−1	6
7	Mozambique	4	1	2	1	5	3	+2	5
6	Gambia	4	1	2	1	2	2	0	5
3	Angola	4	1	1	2	6	6	0	4
1	Cape Verde	4	1	0	3	3	7	−4	3
4	South Africa	4	0	1	3	0	4	−4	1

Ranking rules

1. Total points
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Away goals scored
5. A play-off decider at a neutral ground (if necessary)

Third round

The 20 remaining sides were split into five groups of four. The draw for the groups took place on 22 October 2008 in Zürich, Switzerland.^[15]

The five group winners will qualify for the FIFA World Cup and the African Cup of Nations in 2010. Together with them, the five runners-up and the five third-placed teams qualify for the African Cup of Nations.

Seeding

Teams were seeded based on their FIFA World Rankings in October 2008 (number in parentheses).^[16] One team from each of the following pots was drawn into each group.^[17]

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Cameroon 6 4 1 1 9 2 +7 13  Gabon 6 3 0 3 9 7 +2 9  Togo 6 2 2 2 3 7 −4 8  Morocco 6 0 3 3 3 8 −5 3

Cameroon  — 2 – 1 0 – 0 3 – 0 Gabon  0 – 2 — 3 – 1 3 – 0 Morocco  0 – 2 1 – 2 — 0 – 0 Togo  1 – 0 1 – 0 1 – 1 —

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Nigeria 6 3 3 0 9 4 +5 12  Tunisia 6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 11  Mozambique 6 2 1 3 3 5 −2 7  Kenya 6 1 0 5 5 11 −6 3

Kenya  — 2 – 1 2 – 3 1 – 2 Mozambique  1 – 0 — 0 – 0 1 – 0 Nigeria  3 – 0 1 – 0 — 2 – 2 Tunisia  1 – 0 2 – 0 0 – 0 —

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Algeria 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13  Egypt 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13  Zambia 6 1 2 3 2 5 −3 5  Rwanda 6 0 2 4 1 8 −7 2

Algeria  — 3 – 1 3 – 1 1 – 0 Egypt  2 – 0 — 3 – 0 1 – 1 Rwanda  0 – 0 0 – 1 — 0 – 0 Zambia  0 – 2 0 – 1 1 – 0 —

• Algeria and Egypt finished with identical overall and head-to-head records. Algeria won the tiebreaking play-off 1–0 to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Ghana 6 4 1 1 9 3 +6 13  Benin 6 3 1 2 6 6 0 10  Mali 6 2 3 1 8 7 +1 9  Sudan 6 0 1 5 2 9 −7 1

Benin  — 1 – 0 1 – 1 1 – 0 Ghana  1 – 0 — 2 – 2 2 – 0 Mali  3 – 1 0 – 2 — 1 – 0 Sudan  1 – 2 0 – 2 1 – 1 —

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Ivory Coast 6 5 1 0 19 4 +15 16  Burkina Faso 6 4 0 2 10 11 −1 12  Malawi 6 1 1 4 4 11 −7 4  Guinea 6 1 0 5 7 14 −7 3

Burkina Faso  — 2 – 3 4 – 2 1 – 0 Ivory Coast  5 – 0 — 3 – 0 5 – 0 Guinea  1 – 2 1 – 2 — 2 – 1 Malawi  0 – 1 1 – 1 2 – 1 —

Goalscorers

There were 506 goals scored over 198 games, for an average of 2.54 goals per game.

Scorer	Nation	Total goals	By round
			R1	R2	R3
Moumouni Dagano	Burkina Faso	12	—	7	5
Samuel Eto'o	Cameroon	9	—	6	3
Razak Omotoyossi	Benin	8	—	6	2
Frédéric Kanouté	Mali		—	5	3
Didier Drogba	Ivory Coast	6	—	0	6
Dennis Oliech	Kenya		—	4	2
Chiukepo Msowoya	Malawi		—	3	3
Mohamed Aboutrika	Egypt	5	—	2	3
Matthew Amoah	Ghana		—	1	4
Ismael Bangoura	Guinea		—	5
Pascal Feindouno	Guinea		—	2	3
Emmanuel Adebayor	Togo		—	4	1
Shabani Nonda	DR Congo	4	—	4	X
Emad Motaeb	Egypt		—	3	1
Amr Zaki	Egypt		—	2	2
Roguy Méyé	Gabon		—	2	2
Junior Agogo	Ghana		—	4
Faneva Imà Andriatsima	Madagascar		4	0	X
Seydou Keita	Mali		—	4
Youssef Safri	Morocco		—	4
Victor Obinna	Nigeria		—	1	3
Ikechukwu Uche	Nigeria		—	3	1
Issam Jemâa	Tunisia		—	2	2
Rafik Saifi	Algeria	3	—	1	2
Antar Yahia	Algeria		—	2	1
Karim Ziani	Algeria		—	2	1
Flávio	Angola		—	3	X
Yssouf Koné	Burkina Faso		—	3
Achille Emana	Cameroon		—	1	2
Jean Makoun	Cameroon		—	1	2
Dady	Cape Verde		—	3	X
Lys Mouithys	Congo		—	3	X
Zola Matumona	DR Congo		—	3	X
Dieumerci Mbokani	DR Congo		—	3	X
Sekou Cissé	Ivory Coast		—	3
Bakari Koné	Ivory Coast		—	1	2
Boubacar Sanogo	Ivory Coast		—	3
Ahmed Hassan	Egypt		—	2	1
Hosni Abd Rabo	Egypt		—	1	2
Prince Tagoe	Ghana		—	2	1
Esau Kanyenda	Malawi		—	3
Wilko Risser	Namibia		—	3	X
Jerson Tegete	Tanzania		—	3	X
Adekamni Olufade	Togo		—	3

Key:
— – Bye
X – Eliminated

2 goals

1 goal

Own goals

References

External links

• African zone at FIFA.com