For a sixth World Cup in a row Africa has had five nations qualify. In 2010 the continent had six as South Africa were the hosts.
After qualifying for the previous three World Cups, Ghana won’t be making the trip to Russia this summer after a miserable qualifying campaign that saw the Black Stars win just one of their six matches, finishing below Egypt and Uganda in their group of four.
The five nations that will be representing Africa in Russia are Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. Here’s how they fared in the draw:
Egypt
A stoppage time penalty from Mohamed Salah confirmed Egypt will be playing in their first World Cup since 1990 and only their third ever appearance in the competition.
The North African side have been drawn in Group A with the hosts, as well as Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Although they start with arguably the toughest team in the group, Uruguay, Hector Cuper’s side have real hope in getting out of this group.
Morocco
Morocco won a group consisting of the Ivory Coast, Gabon and Mali to reach this summer’s tournament. It will be the fifth World Cup in the nation’s history and first since France 1998. They have won only two of their previous 13 games in the tournament’s history and will do well to get out of Group B.
The Atlas Lions have been drawn up against Iran, Portugal and Spain. Win their group opener and who knows what may happen but their Betfair World Cup odds of 780/1 suggest they won’t be getting very far this summer.
Nigeria
The Super Eagles are Africa’s second most successful team in qualifying as they will be participating in their sixth World Cup this summer – one less than Cameroon.
Gernot Rohr's side convincingly won a group that consisted of Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria. The likes of Ahmed Musa, Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel will be looking to escape this tournament’s Group of Death which includes Argentina, Croatia and Iceland.
Senegal
Senegal’s only previous World Cup appearance was at South Korea/Japan in 2002 where they caused a few surprises in reaching the quarter-finals of the competition. This included a 1-0 win over defending champions France in the opening game and an extra-time win over Sweden in the second round.
The Lions of Teranga comfortably came through a qualifying group that included Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and South Africa to be drawn against Poland, Colombia and Japan in Group H.
Tunisia
Tunisia won their first-ever World Cup match back in 1978, beating Mexico 3-1. They’ve not won any of their 11 matches since, drawing one and losing two at each of their last three tournaments – between 1998 and 2006.
The Northwest African nation start with England in Group G which could be a battle for second place as Belgium are expected to win the group and Panama are the other nation.
Below is a guide to the 2018 World Cup produced by Betfair: