Topics: FIFA World Cup, Africa, CAF, Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast
The road to the next edition of the FIFA World Cup has been defined with the groupings for the second phase now sorted.

The die is cast for Africa's prospective representatives at the Qatar 2022 to battle for their tickets following Tuesday's group stage draw of the second round qualifying matches. The ceremony which took place inside Cairo's Nile Ritz-Carlton Hotel saw 40 teams being drawn into 10 groups of four after all the nations were initially seeded in four pots according to their FIFA rankings.

The continent of Africa is expected to produce five representatives at the next edition of the World Cup. However, the constituents of some of the groups from the draw suggest that a host of teams with experience in tournament could potentially miss out as just one side is eligible to progress to the next stage.

For starters, either Cameroon or Ivory Coast will be left behind as the pair were drawn against each other in Group D with Mozampique and Malawi for the second round. The same applies to Ghana and South Africa who occupy Group G alongside Zimbabwe and Ethiopia as well as Egypt and Angola who will go head to head with Gabon and Libya in Group F.

Current AFCON title holder Algeria is expected to have an easy ride after finding itself in the midst of Burkina Faso, Niger and Djibouti in Group A. The Super Eagles of Nigeria should also have their hopes high as they will welcome competition from Cape Verde, Central Africa Republic and Liberia.

Mali, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda make up Group E whereas Senegal, Congo, Namibia and Togo completes Group H. Morocco, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Sudan will face-off in Group I and DR Congo, Benin, Madagascar and Tanzania will fancy their chances in Group J.

The second round of qualifying games will commence in October 2020 and end in October 2021. A final round of play-offs to determine the representatives from Africa at Qatar 2022 is slated for November 2021.