2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF first round

The first round of CAF matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 7 to 17 October 2015.

Format
A total of 26 teams (teams ranked 28–53 in the CAF entrant list) played home-and-away over two legs. The 13 winners advanced to the second round.

Seeding
The draw for the first round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2015 (shown in parentheses). The 26 teams are seeded into two pots:
 * Pot 4 contained the teams ranked 1–13 (i.e., 28–40 in the CAF entrant list).
 * Pot 5 contained the teams ranked 14–26 (i.e., 41–53 in the CAF entrant list).

Each tie contained a team from Pot 4 and a team from Pot 5, with the team from Pot 4 hosting the second leg.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Matches

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Niger won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cameroon.

Mauritania won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Tunisia.

Namibia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Guinea.

Ethiopia won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Congo.

2–2 on aggregate. Chad won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Egypt.

1–1 on aggregate. Comoros won on the away goals rule and advanced to the second round against Ghana.

Swaziland won 8–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Nigeria.

Botswana won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Mali.

Burundi won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against DR Congo.

Liberia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Ivory Coast.

Madagascar won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Senegal.

Kenya won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Cape Verde.

Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round against Algeria.