Qatar 2022: Super Eagles know final African opponents

 





This evening, Nigeria will know the last hurdle to a seventh appearance in this year's FIFA World Cup finals.

 

While waiting to battle Tunisia on Sunday for the quarterfinal ticket of the ongoing 33rd Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the Super Eagles will have their attention directed at the final phase of Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup starting on November 21.

 

What is sure is that Nigeria will not be paired with the dethroned continental champions Algeria, or Senegal, who the North Africans defeated to win the title in 2019.

 

Tomorrow's opponents in Garoua, Tunisia and Morocco are not on the path of Nigeria either.

 

Like Nigeria, these sides are seeded in the draw based on their FIFA rankings. 

 

Among the teams that will be in the hat for Nigeria are Egypt, the continent's most decorated team, and the hosts of AFCON 2021 Cameroon.

 

The others are Ghana, Mali and DR Congo.

 

The Pharaohs of Egypt, who succumbed to Nigeria 0-1 in their opening match of Cameroon 2021, scrapped through to the Round of 16 scoring only two goals from winning the same number of matches.

 

They are the first African country to play in the FIFA World Cup (Italy 1934) but have managed to feature in only two more finals since then - 1990 and 2018.

 

Nigerians will be glad to have Ghana come out of the pot. Their fierce opponents of yore have since become not so powerful in African football. That was reaffirmed by the Black Stars' failure at the group stage of Cameroon 2021, in which they finished bottom of Group C and picked just a point from three matches.

 

Ghana are however one of only three African sides to have reached the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. They were at the verge of progressing to

 


the last four of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa when Luis Suarez stopped a goal-bound shot with his hand at the goal post. Ghana eventually lost in the penalty shootouts.

 

The Black Stars were also at the FIFA World Cup in 2006 and 2014.

 

Cameroon are veterans of the FIFA World Cup. Indeed they were the first African country to reach the quarterfinals. And that was when Roger Milla, then 38, dazzled the world at Italy 1990 beating Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina in the group phase.

 

The Indomitable Lions have been to the FIFA World Cup finals seven times, the last been in 2014.

 

As Zaire, DR Congo played in West Germany 1974 and lost all their three group games with no goal recorded and 14 conceded.

 

The Congolese failed to make it to Cameroon 2021 in a qualifying group that included lightweights Gambia and Gabon.

 

Mali are also chasing their first FIFA World Cup finals but won their group in Cameroon 2021 without losing any match. They will now face Equatorial Guinea in the Round of 16.

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