Draw day for Africa

AFRICAN football giants Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria will know today which country they must beat to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The trio, plus Algeria and Tunisia, are seeded for a play-off draw with Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia unseeded.

The draw at the Cairo headquarters of Caf will create five two-leg ties between seeded and unseeded sides.

And a separate draw will determine who plays at home first as the 51-nation qualifying competition reaches an intriguing climax.

Seedings were decided by the monthly Fifa Africa rankings released last week and topped by the Ivorians.

First legs are scheduled for October 11-15 and return matches for November 15-19 - with the five aggregate winners representing Africa at the global football showcase.

All five qualifiers for the previous World Cup in South Africa three years ago - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria - are in contention.

Ghana and Marseille midfield star Andre "Dede" Ayew has no concerns ahead of a draw. "We are ready to face any opponent," said the son of Ghana legend Abedi "Pele" Ayew and older brother of Marseille teammate Jordan.

"Ghana will grind out results against whichever country we play and qualify for a third consecutive World Cup tournament."

Mohamed Abou Trika, one of the greatest African footballers never to feature at a World Cup, hopes Egypt avoid Algeria and Tunisia.

"I want all the north African countries to qualify for the World Cup," said the midfielder with a degree in philosophy.