Qatar World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: Another border battle between Uganda and Rwanda
Uganda will be looking to qualify for their first-ever World Cup finals after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released the draws for the groups of 2022 World Cup that will be held in Qatar.
Following the draws that were held on Tuesday evening in Cairo, Egypt, Uganda has been grouped against two fellow East African nations and another one from West Africa.
Uganda in group E will play Kenya and Rwanda both from East Africa and Mali in qualifiers that will determine who will qualify for the playoffs to pick the best five representatives from the African Continent in the 2022 World Cup.
A total of 40 teams have been grouped in ten pools with the winners going for home and away playoffs and only one winner from each group will qualify for playoffs.
The draws have come at a time when relations between Uganda and Rwanda are not at their best and might see drama unfolding when both countries play each other.
Rwanda closed its borders with Uganda but also stopped their citizens from coming to Uganda, citing security reasons and it remains to be seen if the team from Kigali will honour the game in Kampala.
In the recent CECAFA tournament hosted in Uganda last year, Rwanda pulled out at the last moment citing budgetary constraints but many attributed it to the bad blood between them and then hosts Uganda.
Meanwhile, the first round of group games will begin in October this year and end in October 2021 before the final round of play-offs the following month.
The qualifiers had been due to begin this March but CAF postponed them after re-scheduling the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations from June to January.
The first round of African qualifiers saw the continent’s 28 lowest-ranked sides compete over two legs, with the winners progressing to join the 26 nations given byes into the second stage
2022 World Cup
The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar which is the first time the competition will be held in the Middle East. The tournament is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 18, which is also the host nation’s National Day.
The tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament in North America.
2022 Qualifier Groups
- Group A: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Djibouti
- Group B: Tunisia, Zambia, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea
- Group C: Nigeria, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Liberia
- Group D: Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Malawi
- Group E: Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda
- Group F: Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Angola
- Group G: Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia
- Group H: Senegal, Congo, Namibia, Togo
- Group I: Morocco, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan
- Group J: DR Congo, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania
By John Dalton Kigozi
