World Cup 2018 - FIFA - African sides await draw

African sides will learn who they will face in 2018 World Cup qualifying when the draw takes place on Saturday in St Petersburg, Russia.

Fifty-three African countries will be in the draw, with only Zimbabwe missing following their expulsion by Fifa for failing to pay a former coach.

Africa has been allocated five spots in the finals, which will be played in Russia from 14 June to 15 July.

There will be three rounds of qualifying for the African sides.

In round one, the lowest 26 ranked countries on the continent in Fifa's July rankings will play over two legs in October 2015.

The winners of those ties advance to round two where they will join the remaining 27 highest-ranked teams and face off in another two-legged play off.

In the final round of qualifying, five groups of four teams will meet both home and away and the winner of each group will qualify for Russia 2018.

First round:
One two from each pot to play in a two-legged tie.

Pot 1 (13 highest ranked teams) - Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea Bissau, Swaziland

Pot 2 (13 lowest ranked teams) - Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti

Second Round:
The winners of the first round plus 27 highest-ranked teams.

Top ranked 27 teams - Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Congo, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda, Togo , Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya

Third round:
Winners of the second round will form five groups of four teams who will meet both home and away.