2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF second round
Football tournament qualification stage
This page provides the summaries of the CAF second round matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. The 48 qualifiers (45 direct entrants plus 3 winners of the first round) were split into 12 groups of four in the draw held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007. Teams in each group played a home-and-away round-robin in 2008, with the 12 groups winners and 8 best runners-up advancing to the third round. As not all groups were of equal size after the exclusion of Ethiopia and the withdrawal of Eritrea, when ranking the runners-up, their results against their group's 4th placed team would not be counted.[1]
Seeding
One team from each of the following pots was drawn into each group.[2]
^Ethiopia were excluded from the competition due to FIFA's suspension of the Ethiopian Football Federation on 29 July 2008, and the results of their matches were annulled.[9]
Along with the 12 group winners, the 8 best runners-up also advanced to the third round. In determining the rankings of the runners-up, results against the fourth-placed team (for groups with 4 teams) would be excluded (and are hence excluded from the table below).
^Match originally scheduled for 31 May 2008 postponed as the visiting Lesotho squad failed to arrive after a strike by air traffic controllers in Gabon.[7]
^ abcdThe Sudan v Chad match was originally scheduled for 31 May 2008, but postponed due to conflict between Sudan and Chad.[11] Both legs between Sudan and Chad were later rescheduled and moved to Egypt.[12]
