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champions being thrust in the same group with African Cup of Nations holders Egypt and West African giants Guinea.

In a draw conducted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday night, the Warriors, ranked joint 21st on the continent with Benin, were the first team to be put in Group G which will also include the winner of the preliminary round clash between Mozambique’s Mambas and the Comoros Islands in November.
Norman Mapeza’s men, who rose 39 places in a remarkable jump in June, climbed another rung up the ladder to ensure they were among Africa’s top 24.

That massive jump on the Fifa world rankings bore fruit as the Warriors avoided the World Cup preliminary stage, which will be competed for by the teams in the bottom half of the African rankings.
A total of 203 teams across the globe will be vying for the 31 slots at the 2014 World Cup where they will join hosts and five-time champions Brazil.

The number of entries surpassed the 200 countries who participated in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The African countries who had six slots because South Africa had qualified as hosts will be back to their usual five spots for the tournament in Brazil.

This means that the Warriors face a tall order in their bid to make a maiden appearance at the global soccer showcase that is held every four years.
Saturday night’s draw was a colourful event, which was co-ordinated by Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke with various Brazilian football legends and current Samba Boys like Ronaldo, Zagallo, Zico, Bebeto, Lucas and Neymar being called on to pair the teams.

The draw split the African teams into 10 groups of four with the winners of each group progressing to theh final qualifying stage which will be a two legged knock-out phase.
This means if Zimbabwe are to win Group G, they will be drawn to play against the Group A winners in a two-legged tie that will determine who goes through to Brazil.
While only the group winners will qualify for the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers, it was not immediately clear whether the Confederation of African Football could use the same matches to determine the teams that will qualify for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in Libya.

But it is the outcome of the World Cup draw which the Warriors and their merry band of fans will be more concerned about at the moment as Zimbabwe seek to end a long wait to book a place at the soccer extravaganza.
Warriors coach Mapeza also followed the draw which was beamed live on television on Saturday night and reckoned it was a tough pairing.

Mapeza said he was under no illusions about the tall order facing his charges in their qualification battle but and believes that the Warriors would have to build their campaign on a solid showing at home in order to have a realistic chance of going through.
The coach was, however, happy to have avoided the preliminary round and said he would continue to reach the gospel of winning in every game including the August 10 international friendly against Zambia at Rufaro.

“It is not an easy draw at all, its tough . . . the qualification for the World Cup will be a not be an easy thing for us.
“As you can see we have Guinea in our group who are a very good side.
“Guinea have been doing well of late and Egypt are also a strong side.

“Egypt may have gone down a bit since the revolts that rocked their country but they are still side a strong side and they should never be taken lightly at any time, we cannot afford underrate them at all.
“We just don’t have to under-estimate their them,” said Mapeza.
Mapeza also tipped Mozambique to qualify for the group stages ahead of Comoros.
The Mambas of Mozambique are ranked 39th in Africa and 03 on the world ratings.

The Pharaohs of Egypt retained their Nations Cup title in Angola in January last year but missed out on a place at the World Cup in South Africa five months later.
Egypt are ranked the second best African team behind Cote d’Ivoire.
The Syli National, as Guinea are affectionately known are 14th in Africa and 68th in the world while the Warriors of Zimbabwe have risen to 86th in the world.
Zimbabwe’s showdown with Egypt will be Mapeza’s first clash against the Pharaohs as coach.

Mapeza was a member of the late Reinhard Fabisch’s Dream Team when the Warriors battled to a 0-0 draw against Egypt in France after the result of their clash had been nullified because of violence.
The Warriors managed to beat the Pharaohs at the National Sports Stadium and lost the tension filled reverse fixture in Cairo before Fifa ordered a replay which was staged at a neutral venue in France and ended goalless.
Mapeza has also faced Guinea, who were then inspired by Titi Abubakour Camara but the former Liverpool player is now a sports minister in the West African nation.

But still Mapeza does not rule out Mozambique as potential party spoilers should the Mambas negotiate their way past Comoros.
“We have never played a full strength Mozambique side of late at international level.
“Yes, we have played Mozambique during the Cosafa games but here they should be fielding their best players and again we should not under-estimate them if they qualify,” said Mapeza.
While accepting that it will be a tall order for the Warriors, Mapeza also cats an optimistic figure about his team’s chances and was confident they could accomplish their mission.

“I think we just have to prepare well.
“The idea is to win all our home games against the opponents and then hope to at least fight for a draw away.
“It is not going to be easy to get a win away from home especially in North Africa (Egypt) and West Africa (Guinea),” said Mapeza.

Mapeza believes that if the Warriors reap maximum points at home, then the other teams’ results could also work in their favour.
“We just have to win all our home games and fight for at least a draw away.
“Its important that we win all our games at home and fight for positive results away but this will be not be easy,” said Mapeza.

GROUP G:
Zimbabwe, Guinea, Egypt, Mozambique/Comoros Islands
2014 World Cup African Zone in full:
Preliminary round: (Matches on Nov 11-15, 2011)
Match 1 Seychelles v Kenya
Match 2 Guinea Bissau v Togo
Match 3 Djibouti v Namibia
Match 4 Mauritius v Liberia
Match 5 Comoros v 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 Round (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
Winner match 11, Niger, Gabon, Burkina Faso
GROUP F
Winner match 3, Winner match 1, Malawi, Nigeria
GROUP G:
Zimbabwe, Guinea, Egypt, Mozambique/Comoros Islands
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 10 group winners into five two-leg ties and aggregate winners qualify for 2014 World Cup in Brazil.