Harambee Stars draw Uganda in 2022 World Cup qualifiers

The final 40 teams are seen in their respective pots during the CAF draw, for the second round of Confederation of African Football (CAF) matches for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the Egyptian capital Cairo on January 21, 2020. PHOTO | MOHAMED EL-SHAHED |

What you need to know:

  • Stars will take on arch-rivals and neighbours Uganda, Malawi and in the group with only the winner guaranteed of a place in the final phase of the qualifiers.
  • This will be the 13th consecutive the Kenyans will be vying for a place in the World Cup, a tournament they have never qualified for.

Kenya's national football team, Harambee Stars, were on Tuesday drawn into Group E of the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying phase in Cairo.

Stars will take on arch-rivals and neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and Mali in the group with only the winner guaranteed of a place in the final phase of the qualifiers.

This will be the 13th consecutive the Kenyans will be vying for a place in the World Cup, a tournament they have never qualified for.

The draw that was conducted at the Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo, Egypt, left 10 groups of four teams each where they will play each other home and away in a mini-league format.

The 10 group winners will progress to the third and final round, which will feature five two-legged play-off ties. The five winners of these play-offs qualify for Qatar 2022.

The group matches will be played from October 5, 2020 to October 4, 2021 where the winners will be known.

All the teams in Group E will be seeking to qualify for the Fifa World Cup for the first time.

Harambee Stars reached the second round of the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualification where they were stunningly bundled out by Cape Verde on 2-1 aggregate.

Michael Olunga scored Kenya’s only goal on November 13, 2015 at the Nyayo National Stadium but Cape Verde would hit back to win 2-0 in Praia on November 17, 2015 and advance to the third and final round.

Kenya had started their first round campaign beating Mauritius on 5-2 aggregate. Johanna Omollo scored a brace while Olunga, Ayub Timbe and Haron Shakava scored once as Kenya beat Mauritius 5-2 on October 7 away before the two teams drew 0-0 at Kasarani.

POOLS

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, Ivory Coast, 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