Africa will kick off its 2000 World Cup qualifying campaign this weekend with 23 first round, first leg matches. Beleaguered Ghanaian national team coach Guiseppe Dossena, a former World Cup winner with Italy, has been told to concentrate more on work and less on talking. Dossena was taken to task by the Ghanaian Football Association president Alhaji Jawula after a series of newspaper and radio interviews in which he criticised the federation. Ghana have 18 European-based professionals in their squad for the match, which will be held in the northern city of Arusha.

Other matches are as follows: Benin v Senegal, Botswana v Zambia, Cape Verde Islands v Algeria, Central African Republic v Zimbabwe, Chad v Liberia, Djibouti v DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea v Congo, Gambia v Morocco, Guinea Bissau v Togo, Lesotho v South Africa, Libya v Mali, Madagascar v Gabon, Malawi v Kenya, Mauritania v Tunisia, Rwanda v Ivory Coast, Seychelles v Namibia, Sao Tome Principe v Sierra Leone, Sudan v Mozambique, Swaziland v Angola, Uganda v Guinea.