Windhoek
Namibia will face Gambia on October 5 in their preliminary qualifying round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, following Fifa’s official draw in St Petersburg, Russia on Saturday. Russia will host the 2018 World Cup.
Namibia was one of the 26 lowly ranked teams in Africa and due to the poor rankings had to be placed in the first round where they will engage Gambia in two-legged home and away ties.
Should the Brave Warriors beat Gambia, the team will then face Guinea in Round 2 of the qualifiers along with 12 other winners from the first round. A victory against Guinea will see the Brave Warriors progress to the group stages, which will consist of four teams in five groups and the winners will book their place in Russia in 2018.
The highly ranked 27 African nations received a bye in the first round and will only get active in the second round.
The two countries have only met twice before, first in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers where Gambia won the first encounter 3-1, with Namibia winning the second meeting 1-0 in Windhoek.
Namibia have never qualified for the World Cup, with the country’s major participation to date being two appearances in the African Cup of Nations, in 1998 and 2008, bowing out in the first round on both occasions.