SA will find out their 2022 FIFA World Cup fate in Cairo on Tuesday night but yet another change in the African football calendar means it is not an immediate pressing concern.
SA will be in pot two for the draw for the group phase of the Qatar 2022 qualifiers where the 40 countries left in the contest will be divided into 10 groups of four team each.
The draw is being conducted at a Cairo hotel.
The makeup of the pots have been confirmed by FIFA and are:
• Pot 1: Algeria‚ Cameroon‚ Egypt‚ DR Congo‚ Ghana‚ Mali‚ Morocco‚ Senegal‚ Tunisia
• Pot 2: Benin‚ Burkina Faso‚ Cape Verde Islands‚ Congo‚ Côte d'Ivoire‚ Gabon‚ Guinea‚ South Africa‚ Uganda‚ Zambia
• Pot 3: Central African Republic‚ Guinea-Bissau‚ Kenya‚ Libya‚ Madagascar‚ Mauritania‚ Mozambique‚ Namibia‚ Niger‚ Zimbabwe
• Pot 4:‚ Angola‚ Djibouti‚ Equatorial Guinea‚ Ethiopia‚ Liberia‚ Malawi‚ Rwanda‚ Sudan‚ Tanzania‚ Togo
Only the 10 group winners will then advance to home and away playoff in November 2021 which will decide the five African countries.
African football’s programme for 2020 was turned on its head after the Confederation of African Football decided to change the entire schedule of qualification for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup.
The World Cup qualifiers were scheduled to start in March but will now only get underway in October.
Instead the final four rounds of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for a place at the finals in Cameroon‚ which is now being played next January and February‚ will be played in the international windows in March‚ June and September.
Only then will the World Cup qualifiers get underway‚ so after Tuesday's draw‚ Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki has enough time to do his homework.
They will be played over a year‚ starting in October (5-13) and November (9-17)‚ before a double-header in March (22-30) 2021‚ with the penultimate round will be staged on August 30-September 7‚ 2021‚ and concluding on October 4-12‚ 2021.
SA last played in the World Cup in 2010 when the country hosted the tournament.
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