The playoffs in the playoffs for the World Cup in the African continent were held tonight (Tuesday) and four teams out of five have already secured their place in Qatar. In the big battle, the restoration of the African Championship final, the African Senegalese champion with Sadio Mane qualified for the World Cup after ousting its runner-up Egypt and star Muhammad Salah, after a penalty shootout. Ghana qualified after 1: 1 in Nigeria and thanks to the foreign exchange law still in force in Africa, Morocco came up huge with 1: 4 over Congo and Tunisia came up with 0: 0 at home against Mali.
Senegal – Egypt 0: 1 (1: 1 in the sum of the games, 1: 3 on penalties)
It was an almost exact reconstruction of the African Championship final from less than two months ago. Then it was the Lions from Taranga who overcame the Pharaohs at the end of a penalty shootout with a fifth and decisive kick by Sadio Mana, and this time too the script repeated itself after the duel from the penalty spot ended in a Senegalese 1: 3.
The host, who lost in Cairo 1: 0 in the first game, managed to balance 1: 1 in the sum of the two games with 0: 1 in the 90 minutes from a goal by Boali Dia in the third minute. The teams continued to extend, where they failed to score, and the game went to penalties.
Muhammad Saleh, who in the final of the African Championship was supposed to kick the fifth kick but did not reach it after the duel was decided a moment before, this time kicked the Egyptians’ first kick but missed. He was not alone and all four first kicks in the penalty shootout, two for each team, were missed. The third penalty was scored on both sides, then Bamba Dying also scored in Senegal’s fourth kick, and on the other hand Edward Mandy stopped Mustafa Muhammad’s kick. The second time in 51 days Sadio Mana went to kick the decisive kick, the second time in 51 days he scored and this time he gave his team the ticket to Qatar and bounced the home crowd.
Algeria – Cameroon 2: 1 (2: 2 in the sum of the games)
Algeria came back after a 0-1 draw in Cameroon and with a lot of confidence in their ability to maintain the advantage and qualify for the World Cup after the big disappointment in the African Championship, but the team that finished in third place in the African Championship had other plans. In the 22nd minute, the “uncontrollable lions” took the lead after Eric Chopo Mouting scored from close range after a completely unnecessary omission by the Algerian goalkeeper. The host looked for the equalizer and came up with a number of good opportunities, as did the guest, but the 90 minutes ended 0-1 and the game went into extra time.
In the 97th minute Islam Suleimani had already celebrated an equalizer, but the VAR referees identified a touch of a Sporting Lisbon striker, the referee examined the incident on the screen, decided that indeed the ball touched the hand of the starter and the goal was canceled. Despite this, the Algerians continued to press and minutes before the end of the game the volcano in Balida erupted, after a corner kick by substitute Rashid Razel found the head of substitute Ahmed Tova, who slammed from six meters inside and made it 1-1 that should have been enough to advance to the World Cup. The Algerians were already celebrating, some fans burst onto the pitch, but the game was renewed for four minutes of extra time. Just before the final whistle, in the 124th minute, a ball was lifted to the Algerian pitch, Michael Angado slammed forward and Lyon striker Carl Toko Akambi was left uncovered and from six yards kicked inside, broke the hearts of Algerians and sent his team to Qatar.
Nigeria – Ghana 1: 1 (1: 1 in total)
After the 0-0 draw in the first game, the Ghanaians managed to qualify for the World Cup thanks to away goals. Thomas Party, an Arsenal player, scored already in the tenth minute and at this point the Nigerians had to win to fly to Qatar. William Trust Ekong gave hope to the home crowd when he balanced the result with an accurate penalty in the 21st minute, but the host failed to complete a makeover and remained out of the World Cup for the first time since 2006. The Ghanaians, on the other hand, are returning to the tournament after being absent from the games in Russia in 2018 and will hope to improve the bad impression they left from the last African Championship, where they were already eliminated at the home stage.
Morocco – Democratic Republic of Congo 1: 4 (2: 5 in sum of games)
After the 1: 1 in Kinshasa in the first game the Moroccans came to their home ground and exploded all the way to Qatar. Izz a-Din Onahi, Anja’s 21-year-old midfielder, was the star of the game with a pair of goals. He opened the scoring in the 21st minute and added the third in the 54th minute from a cook by Tarek Tisudali, Ghent’s striker, who himself scored the second goal. Team star Ashraf Hakimi scored in the fourth goal in the 69th minute, Ben Malango only shrank in the 77th minute.
Tunisia – Mali 0: 0 (0: 1 at the end of two games)
The Tunisians qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row after 90 minutes parked from goals at the Brads Olympic Stadium and thanks to a 0: 1 victory in Mali. It was the same own goal by Musa Sissoko four days ago that decided the match, gave Tunisia its place in Qatar and left Mali without any qualification for the World Cup.