Egyptian football legend Mohamed Abou-Treika wants to avoid North African rivals Algeria and Tunisia as he eyes a first ever World Cup finals appearance next summer.
Egypt will be one of 10 teams in the hat for Monday's draw which will create five two-leg ties between seeded and unseeded sides.
The Pharaohs are unseeded along with Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia and face one of either Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia for a place in Brazil next year.
A separate draw at the Cairo headquarters of the Confederation of African Football will determine who plays at home first as the 51-nation qualifying competition reaches an intriguing climax.
Abou-Treika, a two-time African Player of the Year, last week celebrated his 100th cap with a goal and two assists as Egypt ended their qualifying campaign a 100 per cent record after a 4-2 win over Guinea.
And as Abou-Treika eyes a spot at next summer's tournament, he is hoping Egypt won't be the only country flying the flag for North Africa.
"I want all the north African countries to qualify for the World Cup," said the 34-year-old midfielder, who spent the second half of last season on loan at UAE club Bani Yas.
"That would be better than two teams from the region playing each other and one being deprived of a chance to compete in Brazil. However, we must not become preoccupied by who we might meet — we must be ready to face any of our five potential opponents."
Seedings were decided by the monthly FIFA Africa rankings released this week and topped by the Didier Drogba-captained Ivorians.
First legs are scheduled for October 11-15 and return matches for November 15-19 with the five aggregate winners representing Africa at the global football showcase.
All five qualifiers for the previous World Cup in South Africa three years ago – Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria – are in contention.
South Africa also participated, with hosts earning the right automatically, in a tournament where Africa flopped with only Ghana surviving the first round.
Although World Cup play-offs in Africa were abandoned after the 1990 qualifiers, a two-leg showdown between Egypt and Algeria was necessary four years ago. It had ugly repercussions with an Algerian victory amid tight security in Sudan sparking riots in Algiers and Cairo and considerable damage to property.
Diplomatic relations were severely strained but veteran Egypt striker Emad Moteab does not fear another showdown between the countries. "I believe a play-off against Algeria will be very different this time," he said. "Algerians and Egyptians have matured and will not allow another crisis to develop.
"Should we be drawn together, Algerian and Egyptian football supporters must not allow two games of football to cause enmity."
Egypt could be the most handicapped of the 10 play-off hosts as political turbulence and related violence has forced them to play behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, Ghana and Marseille midfield star Andre Ayew has no concerns ahead of a draw. "We are ready to face any opponent," said the son of Ghana legend Abedi 'Pele' Ayew and older brother of Marseille team-mate Jordan. "Ghana will grind out results against whichever country we play and qualify for a third consecutive World Cup tournament."
Veteran Egypt centre-back Wael Gomaa would be happy to face Ghana as the Pharaohs seek a first World Cup appearance since 1990 in Italy. "We have been successful against Ghana and Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations and know them better than sides like Ethiopia."
Egypt defeated Nigeria en route to the 2010 Cup of Nations final, where a late Mohamed 'Geddo' Nagy goal brought victory over Ghana in Luanda.
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