Amr Zaki is confident Egypt can qualify for the 2010 World Cup

The Wigan striker, who is currently the top scorer in the English Premier League with seven goals, was talking ahead of the draw for the groups for the last stage of qualifying.

"Egypt are very optimistic they can make it to the World Cup because we have already proven capable of overcoming any team in Africa," Zaki said.

"During two successive Nations Cup triumphs we beat the likes of Ivory Coast and Cameroon so our supporters will not tolerate failure to reach the finals this time."

Although the Pharaohs have won the Nations Cup a record six times, the North African country have only qualified for the World Cup twice and the last time was 18 years ago.

The Egypt coach Hassan Shehata is equally confident although he is wary of regional opposition.

SEEDS FOR FINAL GROUP STAGE Pot 1: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast Pot 2: Guinea, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Algeria Pot 3: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Zambia, Kenya, Benin Pot 4: Rwanda, Togo, Mozambique, Sudan, Malawi

"We are the reigning champions of Africa so everyone is supposed to fear us, not the opposite, and being among the first seeds will spare us from facing tough opponents like Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria," said Shehata.

"However, I'm always wary of North African opponents because the rivalry between us is incredible. Being the better team does not always mean you win such matches."

Egypt have a 60 percent chance of being paired with North African opponents because Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are second seeds with west African duo Guinea and Mali.

Other first seeds are Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria while Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya and Zambia comprise the third tier and Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan and Togo the fourth.

The seeding for the final round of qualifying was determined by October's Fifa rankings.

The 20 survivors from the second round, which claimed notable casualties like Angola, DR Congo, Senegal and South Africa, will be split into five groups.

Each country plays its three rivals home and away with group winners going to the 2010 World Cup with hosts South Africa and the top three in each group joining hosts Angola at the Nations Cup earlier that year.

The first games of the final phase will be played in March.