Goals, tension, unbearable suspense, and scenes of joy or sadness on the grounds of Europe and Africa. Tuesday evening, devoted to the qualifying matches for the next World Cup, kept all its promises. Seven new selections have won their ticket and join the twenty teams already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
Among the newly qualified, the five representatives – out of 54 candidates – from the “Africa” zone. Ghana, Morocco of Vahid Halilhodzic and Parisian Achraf Hakimi (scorer of the 4th goal), Tunisia, Cameroon and Senegal will travel to Qatar.
Twenty years after their first participation in a World Cup (they had reached the quarters), the Senegalese Lions offered themselves a new final phase. In a remake of the final of the last African Cup of Nations, Aliou Cissé’s players, as in February, got the better of their opponent after a penalty shootout. A crazy session, started by four failures in a row – including that of the Egyptian Mohamed Salah -, and concluded with the powerful and victorious strike of Sadio Mané.
Cameroon, meanwhile, qualified at the expense of Algeria at the end of a completely crazy, suffocating, incandescent match until the end. Led from the 22nd minute following the opener of the former Parisian Eric Choupo-Moting, the Algerians thought they had validated their ticket to Qatar thanks to the equalizer of Ahmed Touba in the … 118th. But the joy was as strong as it was fleeting. In a Mustapha-Tchaker Stadium in Blida where the Fennecs had never experienced the slightest setback (31 successes, 6 draws since 2002), they were overthrown in stoppage time by a goal from Lyonnais Karl Toko-Ekambi in the game stoppages (120th + 5). Algeria must admit defeat because of the away goal rule which counts double (1-0 on the way to Cameroon, then 1-2 ap on the return). Inconsolable, coach Djamel Belmadi remained prostrate for a long time, in tears, kneeling on the ground. One of the strong images of the night.
In the “Europe” zone, Portugal, thanks to a double from Bruno Fernandes, won the precious sesame by dominating North Macedonia (2-0). An opponent who had created the feat last week by eliminating Italy. With this qualification, Cristiano Ronaldo, very moved after the match, enters a little more in the history of his country and his sport. The striker will participate in his 5th final phase of a World Cup. Only four players have achieved such a feat before him.
In the other clash of the evening in the Europe zone, the inevitable Robert Lewandowski, wearing an armband in the yellow and blue colors of Ukraine, was one of the architects of the victory (2-0) – he scored a penalty – and Poland qualified against Sweden. Coming in the 79th minute, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was returning from injury, will not have succeeded in his bet to qualify his team for the World Cup. The former PSG star probably played his last moments in the yellow jersey of the selection.
The playoffs continue overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday for countries in the American zones. The last three tickets for the World Cup will be distributed in June during the final play-offs. We will then know the 32 qualified for Qatar.
The 27 qualified for the World Cup on March 29. Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay (South America zone); Canada (North and Central America zone); Qatar (host country), Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia (Asia zone); Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (Europe zone); Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon (Africa zone).