After fulfilling his duties as a Draw Assistant at Saturday’s Preliminary Draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, Cameroonian goalscoring legend Samuel Eto’o gave us his view on what to expect in the African Zone, where the first round of the qualifying competition begins on 5 October.

“The gap between the strongest teams and the less-fancied ones has closed a lot. In fact, there’s hardly a gap to speak of anymore,” said Eto’o.

“I remember going into matches ten or 15 years ago thinking: ‘There’s such a big difference between us that we’re bound to win’. But these days you’re thinking: ‘This team is going to make life hard for us’, which is great for Africa as a whole.”

Cameroon’s leading all-time goalscorer and a veteran of four FIFA World Cups between France 1998 and Brazil 2014, Eto’o added: “I’ve got my three favourites: Cameroon, obviously. They’re the love of my life. Then there’s Gabon, a country I love, and Côte d’Ivoire, which is half of me, because that’s where my wife is from.

“I wish all the teams luck, though. It’s sure to be a very tough battle because there’s not much to choose between the sides. I hope every match is played in a spirit of fair play and with the African atmosphere that we all know and love. And I hope I can go and watch a game or two.”