Tuesday’s action in Africa’s 2022 World Cup Qualifiers revealed the identity of two further teams progressing into the playoff phase next year, with Nigeria and Algeria punching their tickets.
Nigeria made to the final qualification phase despite being held to 1-1 draw by Cape Verde in a Group C match played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
The Super Eagles came into the match sitting at the top of the group standings – two points above second-placed Cape Verde.
Nigeria needed a win or a draw of any kind to progress and they did it well and won the group and can now look forward to joining nine other teams in the playoffs next March for a place at Qatar 2022.
Gernot Rohr’s charges went ahead on the first minute of the game courtesy of Victor Osimhen who tacked in Moses Simon’s well taken corner.
Cape Verde equalized on the sixth minute when Ianique dos Santos Tavares got in front of his marker and kept his shot down past Maduka.
The other afternoon game saw Algeria booking their ticket to the next round despite being held to a 2-2 draw Burkina Faso in Algiers .
Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring on the 21st minute before Zakaria Sanogo netted an equazlizer on the 37th minute.
Sofiane Feghouli restored the Fennec Foxes lead on the 68th minute but Issoufou Dayo restored parity from the spot in the closing stages of the match.
Algeria become the eighth team to reach the play-offs, joining Nigeria, Ghana, DR Congo, Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Senegal in the third and final qualifying round.
Africa’s five World Cup representatives at Qatar 2022 will be decided when the two-legged play-offs take place in March.
