The Preliminary draw of the first round for the 2018 FIFA world Cup Russia has been conducted today.
Uganda was not included in the draw for the first round because of its position in the FIFA Rankings by mid July, 2015.
Uganda will now start at the second round with a two legged fixture against Togo to be played early November, 2015. The winner of over two legs will advance to the group stages of the qualifiers of 20 teams placed in five groups of four teams.
First Round Matches; 13 two-legged ties, played home and away, between 5-13 October 2015:
| 1. Somalia vs Niger | 8. Eritrea vs Botswana |
| 2. South Sudan vs Mauritania | 9. Seychelles vs Burundi |
| 3. Gambia vs Namibia | 10. Liberia vs Guinea Bissau |
| 4. Sao Tome vs Ethiopia | 11. Central African Republic vs Madagascar |
| 5. Chad vs Sierra Leone | 12. Mauritius vs Kenya |
| 6. Comoros vs Lesotho | 13. Tanzania vs Malawi |
| 7. Djibouti vs Swaziland |
Second Round:The winners of the first round plus 27 highest-ranked teams in Africa. All 40 teams paired into 20 ties, played home and away, between 9-17 November 2015:
| Winner 1 vs Cameroon | Winner 11 vs Senegal |
| Winner 2 vs Tunisia | Winner 12 vs Cape Verde Islands |
| Winner 3 vs Guinea | Winner 13 vs Algeria |
| Winner 4 vs Congo Brazzaville | Sudan vs Zambia |
| Winner 5 vs Egypt | Libya vs Rwanda |
| Winner 6 vs Ghana | Morocco vs Equatorial Guinea |
| Winner 7 vs Nigeria | Mozambique vs Gabon |
| Winner 8 vs Mali | Benin vs Burkina Faso |
| Winner 9 vs Democratic Republic of Congo | Togo vs Uganda |
| Winner 10 vs Ivory Coast | Angola vs South Africa |
3rd round matches: 20 winners of the second round will form five groups of four teams who will meet both home and away. Matches to be played between 3 October 2016 and 14 November 2017. The five group winners qualify for the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
Fifty-three African countries were in the draw, with only Zimbabwe missing following their expulsion to pay their former coach.
Africa has been allocated five spots in the finals, which will be played in Russia from 14 June to 15 July.
