The five African berths for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar are nearly filled; Egypt have an advantage over Senegal, while Ghana and Nigeria’s tie is firmly in the balance.
The highlight tie of the round was the AFCON final rematch between Mohamed Salah’s Egypt and Sadio Mane’s Senegal, and, while the latter beat the former at the start of the year for the continental cup, it was the former who moved a step closer to the World Cup following a narrow 1-0 on March 25.
Saliou Ciss scored a fourth-minute own goal as the Egyptians claimed a 1-0 win in the first leg; the defender was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up deflecting the loose ball into his net after Salah’s shot had bounced off the crossbar.
In the other big tie of the round, Algeria secured a 1-0 win over regular World Cup participants, Cameroon, thanks to Islam Slimani’s 40th-minute goal. The forward flicked on a set piece, and, despite Andre Onana’s best attempts, the ball nestled into the net.
Ten-man DR Congo held Morocco at home with a 1-1 draw, taking the lead through Brentford’s Yoane Wissa early in the first half but conceding late through Tarik Tissoudali.
Elsewhere, Ghana and Nigeria, too, couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes in the first leg as the two played out a 0-0 draw. Meanwhile, Tunisia came away with a 1-0 advantage from their match against Mali, courtesy of a 36th-minute own-goal from Moussa Sissako – Sissako endured a terrible night, wherein four minutes after scoring at his end, he was sent off.
Over in South America, an already qualified Argentina took on an already eliminated Venezuela. The Albiceleste cruised past their opponents, courtesy of goals from Nico Gonzalez, Angel di Maria, and Lionel Messi.
Gonzalez tapped in Rodrigo De Paul’s cross in the 35th minute, giving Argentina the lead, but it wasn’t until late that Lionel Scaloni’s men secured the win.
Di Maria timed his run to perfection to latch onto a De Paul pass over the Venezeualan defence, before chipping the goalkeeper in the 79th minute. Three minutes later, the PSG man turned provider to Messi, lofting the ball to him in the middle of the box that the latter, then, bundled over the line.
