Bafana drawn with Botswana

Rio de Janeiro -The 2014 World Cup has officially kicked off with African nations finding out their opponents to reach the tournament in Brazil in three years' time.

The qualifying draw in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday is the first major World Cup event in Brazil since the South American nation was awarded the competition for the first time in 64 years.

The African teams were divided in 10 groups for qualifying matches beginning in November. South Africa, last year's World Cup host, was drawn in Group A along with Botswana. Ghana, the best African team last year, is in Group D with Zambia and Sudan.

As host, Brazil is the only nation that doesn't have to qualify. But 166 other teams are having their fate decided in the draw.

2014 World Cup draw for the African zone made here on Saturday:

1st rd (Matches on Nov 11-15, 2011)

Match 1 Seychelles - Kenya
Match 2 Guinea Bissau - Togo
Match 3 Djibouti - Namibia
Match 4 Mauritius - Liberia
Match 5 Comoros - Mozambique
Match 6 Equatorial Guinea - Madagascar
Match 7 Somalia - Ethiopia
Match 8 Lesotho - Burundi
Match 9 Eritrea - Rwanda
Match 10 Swaziland - RD Congo
Match 11 Sao Tome - Congo
Match 12 Chad - Tanzania

2nd rd (Matches from June 1, 2012 to September 10, 2013)

GROUP A
Winner match 7
Central African Republic
Botswana
South Africa

GROUP B
Winner match 6
Sierra Leone
Cape Verde
Tunisia

GROUP C
Winner match 12
Gambia
Morocco
Ivory Coast

GROUP D
Winner match 8
Sudan
Zambia
Ghana

GROUP E
Winnermatch 11
Niger
Gabon
Burkina Faso

GROUP F
Winner match 3
Winner match 1
Malawi
Nigeria

GROUP G
Winner match 5
Zimbabwe
Guinea
Egypt

GROUP H
Winner match 9
Benin
Mali
Algeria

GROUP I
Winner match 10
Winner match 2
Libya
Cameroon

GROUP J
Winner match 4
Angola
Uganda
Senegal

Third round (Oct 11-15, Nov 15-19 2013)

A draw will split the 10 group winners into five two-leg ties and aggregate winners will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.