Harambee stars got what are clearly favourable pairings in the preliminary stages of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in a draw conducted by FIFA in Moscow on 25th July.
Kenya will face Mauritius away in the first leg of
the first round qualifier on 5th October before the return leg in Nairobi on
13th October.
Should Kenya make it past the Indian Ocean
islanders, Then Cape Verde awaits in the second round preliminary qualifiers to
be played between 9th and 19th November.
Mauritius has never posed Kenya any footballing
problems and the last time Kenya met Cape Verde in the 2004 African Cup of
Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, we won home and away. Cape Verde was then a baby
and whipping boy of African football but, after putting together an incredible
programme of football development, have emerged as a recognised force on the
continent.
Cape Verde made a big statement in African football
by not only qualifying for the African Cup of Nations for the first time in
2013 but putting together a fairy tale run in the finals as well. After playing
brilliantly to reach the quarter finals of the tournament the Atlantic Ocean
islanders were cruelly eliminated by Ghana.
The tiny nation out played Ghana for long periods
before a dubious penalty and a late break away run by Mubarak Wakaso handed the
West African heavy weights an undeserved victory to advance to the semi finals.
The Cape Verdians returned stronger, topping their
2015 Afcon qualifiers group that included Zambia, Mozambique and Niger. The
team bowed out of the finals held in Equatorial Guinea at the group stages
after 1-1, 0-0, 0-0 draws against Tunisia, Congo D.R. and Zambia respectively.
Clearly, therefore, while Kenya can hope for an easy
outing against Mauritius, the Cape Verdian side we will face this time
round if we progress will be far much
superior than the one we beat home and away in 2004.
Still, compared to what the draw threw in the way of
other teams, Kenya should be glad. The winner of the Somalia/Niger tie, for
instance, will come before the might of Cameroon's Indomitable Lions, and
whoever wins between South Sudan and Mauritania will have to go past Tunisia to
make the group stages. Algeria lies in wait for Tanzania or Malawi and Liberia
or Guinea Bissau will come face to face with current African Champions Ivory
Coast.
It is in the face of such pairings that I argue
Kenya are lucky but this should not mean resting on our laurels and waiting to
obliterate Mauritius while counting on history against Cape Verde. Surprises
are becoming common place in African football and the painful elimination of
Kenya by Lesotho in the preliminary rounds of the 2015 Afcon qualifiers are
still fresh in every one's mind.
Full African zone preliminary rounds draw (Courtesy
of BBC Sport)
Round one
Two-legged ties, played 5 October and 13 October.
Somalia v Niger, South Sudan v Mauritania, Gambia v
Namibia, Sao Tome e Principe v Ethiopia, Chad v Sierra Leone, Comoros v
Lesotho, Djibouti v Swaziland, Eritrea v Botswana, Seychelles v Burundi,
Liberia v Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic v Madagascar, Mauritius v
Kenya, Tanzania v Malawi
Round two
Two-legged ties, played 9 November and 17 November.
Somalia/Niger v Cameroon, South Sudan/Mauritania v
Tunisia, Gambia/Namibia v Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe/Ethiopia v Congo,
Chad/Sierra Leone v Egypt, Comoros/Lesotho v Ghana, Djibouti/Swaziland v
Nigeria, Eritrea/Botswana v Mali, Seychelles/Burundi v Congo DR,
Liberia/Guinea-Bissau v Ivory Coast, Central African Republic/Madagascar v
Senegal, Mauritius/Kenya v Cape Verde, Tanzania/Malawi v Algeria, Sudan v
Zambia, Libya v Rwanda, Morocco v Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique v Gabon, Benin
v Burkina Faso, Togo v Uganda, Angola v South Africa
The 20 winners from the second round will go into a
third round comprising five groups of four. The winners of each group qualify
for the World Cup.
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