The next stage of the African qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup will resume in October 2016 with 20 teams participating.

The qualified teams: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Congo DR, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia, will be split into five groups of four teams.

The five group winners after a round-robin will qualify to represent Africa in Russia.

The draw for the group stage will be held in July and the seeding is likely to be based on the last FIFA world ranking before the draw.

Unlike in CAF competitions which usually have head-to-head tiebreakers, goal difference will serve as the first tiebreaker in this campaign.

Should this fail to produce the winner, then goals scored, or points in matches between tied teams, or goal difference in matches between tied teams, or goals scored in matches between tied teams, or away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams), or play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organising Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary.

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