2018 World Cup draw possibilities look frightening for Ghana

With their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations place secured‚ Ghana will now look ahead of the draw on June 24 for the final round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Black Stars high position on the FIFA World Rankings and encouraging recent results means they are likely to be placed in Pot 1 and will avoid the toughest sides on the continent.

However, Ghana will face an arduous road to the finals if they are placed in a group with other inform sides if the draw is not favourable at Confederation of African Football (CAF) headquarters in Cairo.

The 20 sides to have qualified will be drawn into five groups‚ each containing four teams‚ with only the pool winner advancing to the World Cup in two years’ time.

The possibilities for Black Stars look frightening even with the likelihood they will avoid one of Algeria‚ Côte d’Ivoire‚ Ghana‚ Egypt or Senegal as the top seeds in their group.

The second seeds in the pools are likely to be Cameroon, DR Congo‚ Cape Verde Islands‚ Guinea and Mali.

Avram Grant’s side will probably face Nigeria‚ Congo‚ Morocco and South Africa‚ who should all be in Pot 3.

Pot 4 would usually be the also-rans but in this competition, there are plenty of dangers as Uganda‚ Burkina Faso‚ Zambia‚ Gabon and Libya are likely to make up that quintet.

A probable worst-case scenario for the Black Stars would be something like a pool with Cameroon‚ Nigeria (or Morocco) and Gabon.

The best they could likely hope for would be Guinea, Congo and Uganda.

The qualifiers will start in the week of October 3-9‚ 2016 and will be completed by November 2017.