JUBA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan has named a 32-man preliminary squad to face Equatorial Guinea in the first round of African qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Newly appointed head coach Ashu Cyprian Besong on Friday summoned 17 foreign- and 15 home-based players to prepare for the encounter with the National Thunder of Equatorial Guinea in a home-and-away showpiece for a place in the group stage. The games are set to be played between September 2 and 10.

Besong, who has been the east African country's fifth foreign coach, is seeking to rebuild the national team which failed to qualify for major international tournaments since becoming a FIFA member in May 2012.

The Bright Stars of South Sudan are meeting their central African opponents for the third time following a 1-0 home win in 2015 and a 4-0 thrashing in the return leg of the 2017 African Cup of nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

The 14 teams from the qualification play-offs will join other 26 highly-ranked teams in the group stage. Only five teams will advance to Qatar 2022. Enditem

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