The group phase of African qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia starts this afternoon with Ghana playing host to Uganda in the northern town of Tamale in Group E.
There are five groups of four nations in this final round of qualification with only the pool winners advancing to the finals.
Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana have been Africa’s five qualifiers for the last two editions in 2010 and 2014, but that will change this time around as Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria are all in the same group along with Zambia (who have never qualified for the World Cup finals).
The other fixtures will take place across the weekend, including Ivory Coast v Mali on Saturday and Zambia v Nigeria on Sunday.