The CAF preliminary rounds were drawn in St Petersburg, Russia, on SAT 25 JUL 2015.

The first preliminary round includes South Sudan making their qualifying dèbut against Mauritania, and neighbours Tanzania and Malawi squaring off.

The top African nations are waiting in the second preliminary round, which sees Côte d’Ivoire in a west Africa derby against the Liberia-Guinea-Bissau winner. Two nations with Men’s World Cup experience, Angola and South Africa, also meet in the second preliminary round.

Each series is played over two legs. The aggregate winner advances to the group phase, from which five teams qualify for Russia 2018.

• Series 1: Somalia-Niger; winner v Cameroon
• Series 2: South Sudan-Mauritania; winner v Tunisia
• Series 3: Gambia-Namibia; winner v Guinea
• Series 4: São Tomé-Príncipe-Ethiopia; winner v Congo
• Series 5: Chad-Sierra Leone; winner v Egypt
• Series 6: Comoros-Lesotho; winner v Ghana
• Series 7: Djibouti-Swaziland; winner v Nigeria
• Series 8: Eritrea-Botswana; winner v Mali
• Series 9: Seychelles-Burundi; winner v Congo DR
• Series 10: Liberia-Guinea-Bissau; winner v Côte d’Ivoire
• Series 11: Central African Rep-Madagascar; winner v Senegal
• Series 12: Mauritius-Kenya; winner v Cabo Verde
• Series 13: Tanzania-Malawi; winner v Algeria
• Series 14: Sudan-Zambia
• Series 15: Libya-Rwanda
• Series 16: Morocco-Equatorial Guinea
• Series 17: Mozambique-Gabon
• Series 18: Benin-Burkina Faso
• Series 19: Togo-Uganda
• Series 20: Angola-South Africa