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All four North African countries are in pole position to claim four of the five African slots for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Megasportsarena.com reports.
Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco put up strong showings on Friday to put themselves in good stead for places at the Mundial later this year.
Egypt have the upper hand in their duel against Sadio Mane’s Senegal in the African World Cup qualifiers.
The two teams faced off in the first match of their two-legged contest and it was a fluke goal in the fourth minute that made the difference. Salah hit the bar and the ball went in off Saliou Ciss.
Algeria inflicted a rare home defeat on Cameroon as the 2019 African champions took a crucial 1-0 lead from the first leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off.
Playing in Douala, where Cameroon have been unbeaten since losing a Nations Cup qualifier in 2000, veteran Islam Slimani’s winner handed Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi the perfect 46th birthday present.
Tunisia were gifted a 1-0 win in the first leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off by hosts Mali.
The unfortunate Moussa Sissako scored the only goal of the game as he put the ball into his own net in the 36th minute.
Morocco scored a crucial away goal in the 75th minute against 10-man DR Congo to earn a 1-1 draw in Kinshasa in the first leg of their 2022 World Cup play-off tie.
Brentford’s Yoane Wissa gave the hosts the lead in the 11th minute following a deflection off the head of Morocco captain Romain Saiss.
In the second half, the Atlas Lions’ Ryan Mmaee – who has a Moroccan mother and Cameroonian father – then put the ball over the bar from the penalty spot, before Tarik Tissoudali spared his blushes with a late equaliser.
The all West African affair between Ghana and Nigeria ended 0-0 in a game which — similarly to the other match — was short of chances. Nigeria thought they had been awarded a penalty in the second half but it was chalked off following a VAR review.
Ten teams reached the final round of African qualifying. The winners of the five two-legged ties, scheduled for March, will represent Africa at Qatar 2022.
First legs Results
Congo DR 1-1 Morocco
Cameroon 0-1 Algeria
Mali 0-1 Tunisia
Egypt 1-0 Senegal
Ghana 0-0 Nigeria
Second legs Tuesday, 29 March Morocco-Congo
DR Algeria-Cameroon
Tunisia-Mali
Senegal-Egypt
Nigeria-Ghana
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