2018 World Cup: Ghana named among top seeds

African seeding ahead of draws for 2018 World Cup first and second qualifying rounds on July 25 at Saint Petersburg in Russia are as follows:

First round

(two legs between Oct 5 and 13 2015)

Seeded: Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burundi, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau, Swaziland.

Unseeded: Tanzania, Gambia, Liberia, Central African Republic, Chad, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Sao Tome e Principe, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti.

Disqualified: Zimbabwe (failing to pay a former coach.

Note: 13 overall winners advance to second round.

Second round

(Two legs between Nov 9 and 17 2015)

Seeded: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cape Verde, Egypt, Nigeria, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda.

Unseeded: Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Libya and 13 first-round winners.

Note: 20 second-round winners will be split into five four-team groups in a separate draw with the winners qualifying for 2018 World Cup in Russia.