1st Qualifying round

Pot 5:
Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Liberia, Tanzania, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Namibia, Burundi and Madagascar

Pot 6:
Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Swaziland, Comoros Islands, Lesotho, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sao Tome Principe

RWANDA has been drawn in Pot 5 for the preliminary draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The qualifying campaign kicks off late this year.

Africa’s 52 member associations will play for five available spots at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 24 lowest-ranked teams will contest Round 1, which will be played in November.

The 12 countries in Pot 5 will be drawn against the 12 countries in Pot 6, who will play at home first with aggregate winners from November’s two-legged ties advancing to the second round.

Reacting to the draws, Amavubi Stars head Coach Sellas Tetteh told this paper yesterday that the World Cup qualification is always a long journey.

"We are going to start from scratch; we have to be prepared so as to move to the next round. "It is not going to be easy but our game in November is very important,” noted the Ghanaian tactician.

For Amavubi to be in the second round, it must come among the 10 teams from the round one to occupy pot four, who will tussle it out alongside other countries ranked 1-29.

In the second round, the 10 four-team groups will be formed by drawing together one team from each pot and each country plays three opponents at home and away. The matches will start in June 2012 and conclude in September 2013.

In the third qualifying round, a draw will split the 10 group winners into five two-leg ties, with the aggregate winners qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The 2014 World Cup qualifying draw will be held tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil will host the competition from 12 June - 13 July 2014. A total of five African nations will qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Ends