The draw for the preliminary stages of the 2018 World Cup has taken place and Malawi will face Tanzania in the preliminary stages with the winner facing Algeria before going into the group stages.
Recently Tanzania has invested more money in the team in hope of improvement. Tanzania has beaten Burkina Faso twice in the African Nations cup qualifiers and beat Cameroon 1-0 in a friendly match. The most recent result was a 3–1 win against Morocco in World Cup Qualifying in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The qualifiers begin in September 2016 and run through to November 2017.
The draw was conducted in St Petersburg, Russia on Saturday.
The qualifiers are divided into three rounds, with the first round being made up of the 26 lowest ranked teams in Africa. The second round sees 13 winners of the first round matches proceeding to the second round where they compete with 27 other countries over two legs for a place in the group stages.
Malawi plays Tanzania and if they win will play Algeria over two legs, with the winner going through to the group stages. The group winners will then qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
FIRST ROUND
First round: Ties to be played October 2015:
Somalia v Niger
South Sudan v Mauritania
Gambia v Namibia
Sao Tome e Principe v Ethiopia
Chad v Sierra Leone
Comoros v Lesotho
Djibouti v Swaziland
Eritrea v Botswana
Seychelles v Burundi
Liberia v Guinea-Bissau
Central African Republic v Madagascar
Mauritius v Kenya
Tanzania v Malawi
SECOND ROUND
Second round (November 2015):
Somalia/Niger v Cameroon
South Sudan/Mauritania v Tunisia
Gambia/Namibia v Guinea
Sao Tome e Principe/Ethiopia v Congo
Chad/Sierra Leone v Egypt
Comoros/Lesotho v Ghana
Djibouti/Swaziland v Nigeria
Eritrea/Botswana v Mali
Seychelles/Burundi v Congo DR
Liberia/Guinea-Bissau v Ivory Coast
Central African Republic/Madagascar v Senegal
Mauritius/Kenya v Cape Verde
Tanzania/Malawi v Algeria
Sudan v Zambia
Libya v Rwanda
Morocco v Equatorial Guinea
Mozambique v Gabon
Benin v Burkina Faso
Togo v Uganda
Angola v South Africa
