PARIS -- Ghana were handed a modest task in the preliminary draw for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany when they were paired with Somalia in the first round of African qualifying on Friday.
Ghana, who have often been heavily fancied to reach the World Cup finals but never made it, start their campaign against the war-torn Somalia, who forfeited home advantage in the last World Cup campaign because of the tenuous political situation in their capital Mogadishu.
Somalia opted to play both legs of their preliminary round tie away in Cameroon on successive weekends in April 2000 when they were paired with the African champions at the start of the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup finals.
They lost both matches 3-0. Among the goal scorers for Cameroon against the Somalis was Marc-Vivien Foe, the midfielder who died on Thursday after collapsing during the Confederations Cup semi-final against Colombia in Lyon, France.
The home and away matches will be played in September and October 2003. The draw for finals made in Paris on today.
Cameroon are among nine African countries who have a direct route in the group phase of the qualifiers, due to start in April next year.
The other eight are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
Only the Ivorians have yet to play in the World Cup finals.
The 21 winners of this year's preliminary round matches will join the nine other countries in the African section of the main World Cup draw in Frankfurt in December.
They will be divided into five groups of six teams each with the group winners qualify for the World Cup finals.
The top three in each group will also qualify for the 2006 African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
This is the first time that the World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifiers are being combined, a move decided last year because of the pressure of the international calendar.
Madagascar v Benin
Ethiopia v Malawi
Guinea v Mozambique
Botswana v Lesotho
Congo v Sierra Leone
Sudan v Eritrea
Swaziland v Cape Verde Islands
Uganda v Mauritius
Rwanda v Namibia
Gambia v Liberia
Burundi v Gabon
The home and away matches will be played in September and October 2003.
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