CAF
Cecafa teams prepare for FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers
Nine teams in the Cecafa region have stepped up preparations ahead of the first leg matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers. Eritrea who last played an international match in 2015 have stepped up preparations ahead of their home game against Namibia on September 4th.
Head coach Efrem Alemseghed told Cecafafootball.com that they are hungry to win the home game before traveling to Namibia. “We expect our captain Henok Goitom who is based in Sweden to boost the team when he arrives on Friday,” said the coach.
The South Sudan team are also training seriously in Khartoum ahead of their game against Equatorial Guinea at the Al Hilal Stadium in Khartoum on September 4th.
Burundi and Tanzania who featured in the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt will clash in Bujumbura in the first leg before the return leg in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania have recalled veteran goalkeeper Juma Kaseja who helped them qualify for the next round of the 2021 CHAN qualifier.
The other Cecafa teams that will be in action include Djibouti hosting Eswatini, while Sudan play away to Chad and Rwanda travel to face Seychelles.
Winners of the preliminary round will join the 26 countries who received byes and will be split into 10 groups of four after a fresh draw with the first matches next March.
Matches of the group stages are expected to run from 23 until 31 March 2020 and 04 to 12 October 2020.
The winners from the 10 groups will then engage in five two-leg playoffs, with the winners qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.