Eight African sides will look to complete the final stage of the road to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2017 in Lagos during mid-December.

Two teams from Africa will represent their nations and the continent at large next year on the pristine sands of the Bahamas, with representatives from Europe and Oceania all confirmed.

African qualification began back in August when the first legs of four qualifiers were played across the continent. While Egypt, Morocco and Libya all benefitted from walkovers to ensure their place here in Lagos, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Madacgascar were the ones to come through their two-legged qualifiers.

Now, those seven sides, along with hosts Nigeria will battle it out over nine days in a bid to first reach the final and book their World Cup spots but also to claim continental honours.

Last year’s event saw Senegal and Madagascar qualify for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 in Portugal after reaching the final.

It was the latter who ultimately claimed the overall title after victory on penalties while this year’s hosts, Nigeria, salvaged a third-place finish following a 9-1 win against Ivory Coast. Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon are all other nations to have to won this title before but, as was seen with Poland’s surprise success in Europe, anything can happen when a place at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is at stake.

Going by world ranking, the continent’s eight premier teams will go head-to-head in Lagos over the coming days, with Egypt currently considered Africa’s best team.

The Egyptians moved to 18th in the world after their sixth-placed finish at the recent Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in Dubai, with Senegal also inside the world’s top 20. Morocco and Ivory Coast are the next two – numbered at 25 and 29 respectively overall, before Nigeria, Madagascar, Ghana and Libya complete Africa’s top eight.

When premium beach soccer talent is combined with enterinaing off-pitch activities, the African FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifier here in Lagos promises to be an unforgettable occasion.