Cranes road to 2022 Qatar WC

The first round draw to the 2022 Fifa World Cup Qatar qualification went on so quietly, in Cairo on Monday that it passed almost unnoticed; unless – of course – you are one the 28 lowly ranked countries that were drawn to start in the preliminaries.
Uganda, who for the first time since 1978 made the round of 16 at the Nations Cup in Egypt early July, are one of the top 26 ranked teams on the continent given a bye to the second round.

The other 28 lowly ranked teams will play 14 home-and-away ties, with 14 winners joining Uganda and 25 others in the second round, where they will be pooled in 10 groups of fours.
Ten group winners from the second round will then be drawn into five home-and-away ties, with the victors of each tie qualifying for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

As it has been, a total of only five slots in the final tournament are available for Caf teams, with the continent getting four more at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
A previous proposal to merge the 2022 World Cup qualification rounds with the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations was turned down after a Caf meeting in June 2018, with the continental body reverting to the format used for the 2014 World Cup qualification.
Qatar World Cup qualification first leg or preliminary ties are scheduled for September 2 this year, with the return matches eight days later.

Second round matches will be played in March and June 2020, and March, August, September and October 2021. The third and final qualification round will be played in November 2021.
In the meanwhile, Uganda continue the search of the new national team coach after Fufa disbanded the entire technical team following Sebastien Desabre’s departure early July.

QATAR WC QUALIFYING SCHEDULE
First round/preliminary
First leg: September 2, 2019

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