RWANDA will face Eritrea in the preliminary round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers whose two-legged matches will be played from November 11-15.

Rwanda, one of Fifa’s low ranked teams competing in the qualifiers, will then play against even tougher opponents should they progress to the second round.

The winner between Rwanda and Eritrea will join African giants Algeria, Mali and Benin in Group H of the second qualifying round.

The tie with Algeria will be a repeat of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers were they held the North Africans to a goalless draw in Kigali before losing 3-0 in Algiers.

Benin will also be a hard nut to crack following their thumping 3-0 victory over Amavubi in the first leg of the 2012 Africa Nations Cup in Kigali.

After the draws, Amavubi head coach Sellas Tetteh said, "This is a tough group and making it to the World Cup will be a tough and long journey.”

The African Zone was drawn into ten groups of four. The twelve winners from the preliminary round will advance to the second round where they will join the remaining 28 teams.

The ten group winners will advance to Round Three. The five third-round ties that decide who flies to Rio are scheduled for October and November 2013.

African zone draw
Group A:  South Africa, Botswana, Central African Republic, Somalia or Ethiopia
Group B:  Tunisia, Cape Verde Islands, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea or Madagascar
Group C:  Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Gambia, Chad or Tanzania
Group D:  Ghana, Zambia, Sudan, Lesotho or Burundi
Group E:  Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Sao Tome e Principe or Congo
Group F:  Nigeria, Malawi, Seychelles or Kenya, Djibouti or Namibia
Group G:  Egypt, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Comoros or Mozambique
Group H: Algeria, Mali, Benin, Eritrea or Rwanda
Group I:  Cameroon, Libya, Guinea-Bissau or Togo, Swaziland or Congo DR
Group J:  Senegal, Uganda, Angola, Mauritius or Liberia