Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and South Africa face tough roads to Qatar as African qualifying competition for the 2022 World Cup was unveiled on Tuesday.
Group D, which features regional powers Cameroon and Ivory Coast, will also include Mozambique and Malawi.
Ghana and South Africa, already paired together in the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, will join Zimbabwe and Ethiopia in Group G.
In total, 40 teams were into 10 groups of four teams, with the group winners advancing to the final round. This round will be played March 2020 to October 2021.
The 10 group winners will be drawn into head-to-head, two-legged ties for one of the five places at the World Cup. Fixtures to be played in November 2021.
Defending AFCON champions Algeria, featuring Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez, will face Burkina Faso, Niger, and Djibouti in Group A.
Group F will showcase other Premier League stars as Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Egypt are set against Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabon. That group will also include Libya and Angola.
Nigeria are in Group C along with Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic and Liberia, which should cause few alarms.
The draw was made in Cairo with the group breakdown as follows:
Group A
Algeria
Burkina Faso
Niger
Djibouti
Group B
Tunisia
Zambia
Mauritania
Equatorial Guinea
Group C
Nigeria
Cape Verde Islands
Central African Republic
Liberia
Group D
Cameroon
Ivory Coast
Mozambique
Malawi
Group E
Mali
Uganda
Kenya
Rwanda
Group F
Egypt
Gabon
Libya
Angola
Group G
Ghana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Ethiopia
Group H
Senegal
Congo-Brazzaville
Namibia
Togo
Group I
Morocco
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Sudan
Group J
Democratic Republic of Congo
Benin
Madagascar
Tanzania
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
