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Zambia on bye in first round of World Cup qualifiers

Xinhua, July 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Zambia will be on bye in the first round of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers that kick off in October, the country' s soccer governing body announced on Wednesday.

In a statement posted on its website, the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) said Zambia was one of the continent' s top ranked sides that will be exempted from the first round action of the World Cup qualifiers.

According to an announcement made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ahead of the World Cup draws this Saturday, Zambia will join the qualifiers in the second round together with 26 other African teams.

According to the statement, Africa will see 53 of its 54 member associations involved in the preliminary draw on Saturday in Russia following the expulsion of Zimbabwe by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Zambia is ranked among top teams in Africa that will be exempted from the first round qualifiers which also include Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo Democratic Republic, Cape Verde, Egypt and Nigeria.

Other countries include Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Rwanda, Togo, Morocco, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Benin and Libya.

Zambia has never qualified to the World Cup finals before. Endi