Qatar 2022 World Cup Draws: It’s Nigeria Vs Ghana
- As CAF Announces African Qualifiers Play-off
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – What a baptism of fire for new Super Eagles coach, José Peseiro with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announcing the draws for the Qatar 2022 World Cup play-off for the African zone.
Set to take over affairs at the conclusion of the ongoing AFCON 2021 in Cameroon, the 61-year-old Portuguese will have his hands full as Nigeria take on the Black Stars of Ghana in the next qualifying rounds for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Despite reviling the fortunes of Nigeria at AFCON and indeed winning the coach of the group stage award, Augustine Eguavoen will be stepping aside for Peseiro to navigate the Super Eagles’ qualification past their Ghanaian opponents between March 23 and 29, 2022.
The ten African nations advanced to the third and final hurdle in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and Saturday’s draws threw up some interesting pairings for nations seeking to represent the continent and make the trip to the Gulf nation of Qatar in November.
Held in Douala, Cameroon, the draws were conducted by CAF Competitions Director Samson Adamu, assisted by CAF legends El Hadji Diouf and Emmanuel Adebayor with the two standout ties undoubtedly involving Senegal versus Egypt and the West African confrontation between Nigeria and Ghana.
All The Match-Ups
Egypt vs Senegal
Ghana vs Nigeria
Mali vs Tunisia
DR Congo vs Morocco
Cameroon vs Algeria
Ghana Vs Nigeria – History Beckons
Black Stars and Super Eagles have played each other on 56 occasions with Ghana having the upper hand over their neighbours with 25 wins and 19 draws. The Super Eagles have prevailed only in 12 games!
Liverpool Teammates, Salah, Mané Fight For Glory
The Senegal versus Egypt tie is destined to divide Liverpool fans with one of their star strikers in Mo Salah or Sadio Mané set to miss out at football’s biggest party in November.
Both sides are in the last 16 stage at the ongoing AFCON 2021, but it is fair to say that neither have found their rhythm at the competition.
Though CAF has confirmed that the games will take place from 23 to 29 March, the exact dates and kick-off times are to be agreed upon after CAF liaises with the respective Football Associations.
The draw for the 2022 World Cup is expected to take place in Doha in April with the exact date still to be confirmed. Winners from the five pairings will represent Africa at the 2022 Qatar World Cup which gets underway in November of this year.
Africa’s Record At The Mundial
Morocco were the first African team to go past the group stage when they reached the Round of 16 in 1986. The ‘Atlas Lions’ have appeared in World Cups five times (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, and 2018)
Cameroon are Africa’s most represented nation at World Cup finals having featured at seven (7) tournaments followed by Nigeria’s Super Eagles who are veterans of six competitions with the Atlas Lions of Morocco participating in five editions.
The play-off games will be played on a home and away basis (match-dates will be staged March 24-29) and teams will be seeded in accordance with their latest FIFA rankings. Of the ten involved nations, only Mali have never appeared at a World Cup finals before with DR Congo featuring as Zaire in 1974. – With Agency reports
