FIFA have re-scheduled almost all of the of the final group matches in the African Qualifying Zone, and all but two of the final matches in the World Cup Qualifiers are to be played at the same time as each other in their respective groups, on the 8th of October.

The kick-off times have been co-ordinated, so that all the matches in the Africa Qualifying Zone that could have any bearing as to which five African Nations qualify for the 2006 World Cup, as well as those who will compete in next year's African Cup of Nations in Egypt will kick-off at the same time as each other.

Football's world governing body has specified that all but two of the 15 remaining qualifying matches will be played on Saturday the 8th of October.

The only two matches which have no consequence on any of the other results, are to be played on the 1st and the 9th of October. These are the Africa Zone Group 3 clash with Benin against Libya (now taking place on the 9th), and Zambia's Group 1 away game against Liberia will be played on the 1st of October.

This is because these games have no bearing on the potential finalists for the World Cup finals Germany 2006, or the African Cup of Nations, Egypt 2006.

In Group 1, the surprise group leaders Togo will be playing the DR Congo at 15.30 hrs GMT, the same time that Senegal, the only team who can catch Togo's 'Hawks', kick off against Mali in Dakar.

Group 2 is the only group where the African Nations Cup qualification spots are yet to be decided, because the top three teams in the group, the DR Congo, South Africa and Burkina Faso, are still fighting for the two available qualification places for the African Nations Cup.

All the Group 2 games, including the table-topping 'Black Stars' of Ghana's trip to Cape Verde, will take place at 1500 GMT because they all have an impact on who will qualify for the World Cup as well as the African Nations Cup.

In Group 3, only the 'Lions' of Cameroon, or the Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), have a possibility of reaching the World Cup Finals, and both their matches, against Egypt and Sudan respectively, kick-off at 1500 hrs GMT.

The scenario is the same in Group 4 where just two teams, Angola and Nigeria, can qualify. The Angolans' match in Rwanda and Nigeria's home game against Zimbabwe will both start at 1400 hrs GMT.

In Group 5, there is no need for any matches to be synchronised since the three Nations Cup places have already been taken and the only two teams that can qualify for the World Cup - Morocco and Tunisia – are against each other for a place in the World Cup Finals, in the Tunisian Capital, Tunis.

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