Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will be a notable absentee due to coronavirus travel restrictions when the group phase of qualifying in Africa for the 2022 World Cup finally kicks off on Wednesday.

Salah plays for Egypt, who are on the United Kingdom travel ‘red list’, and he would have to be quarantined for 10 days when he returns from his homeland, side-lining him for four fixtures.

Both world body FIFA and African confederation CAF have pleaded, without success, for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to exempt African footballers on World Cup duty.

Stars in other European countries could also be affected as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc with an African group schedule that has already been delayed three times.

Here, AFP Sport looks at the 10 four-team groups and which countries may reach the final qualifying stage.

Group A

  • Algeria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Niger
  • Djibouti

Group B

  • Tunisia
  • Zambia,
  • Mauritania
  • Equatorial Guinea

Group C

  • Nigeria
  • Cape Verde
  • The Central African Republic
  • Liberia

Group D

  • Cameroon
  • Ivory Coast,
  • Mozambique
  • Malawi

Group E

  • Mali
  • Uganda
  • Kenya
  • Rwanda

Group F

  • Egypt
  • Gabon
  • Libya
  • Angola.

Group G

  • South Africa
  • Ghana
  • Zimbabwe
  • Ethiopia.

Group H

  • Senegal,
  • Congo Brazzaville
  • Namibia
  • Togo.

Group I

  • Morocco
  •  Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Sudan

Group J

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Benin
  •  Madagascar
  • Tanzania