On Tuesday night, the five African nations that will be participating in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar were affirmed, and the list includes Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, and Ghana.
By winning two-legged playoffs, the five qualifiers confirmed their positions in the 2022 World Cup, which has been scheduled to be held in Qatar.
Cameroon and Ghana advanced from the playoffs to secure their positions in the World Cup on the merit of the away goals rule, while Senegal eliminated Egypt in a penalty shootout, which has left the football world shocked, despite Egypt being known as a team with proficiency.
In a sequel to the match where Egypt was shocked and quashed by Senegal, the game, which opened with a goal from Senegal’s Boulaye Dia, remained the same for the whole 90 minutes of regular time and the 30 minutes of extra time, leaving the two sides even on aggregate following Egypt’s one-nil win and advantage at home.
In spite of the fact that a penalty shootout brought some Egyptian fans to hope for a victory, mistakes from Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah and budding star Zizo permitted Liverpool attacker, Sadio Mané, to cement the qualification for a spot in the 2022 World Cup for his country.
Egypt coach Carlos Quieroz’s contract stipulates that if his team refuses to qualify for the World Cup, his job will be terminated.
At the time of writing this report, it’s uncertain whether the result would have a negative effect on his contract, which might lead to getting him sacked.
While making a comment in regards to the outcome of the game, Senegal’s coach, Aliou Cisse, who is presumably believed to be in a good mood following his team’s qualification, said, “It was important to get off to a good start, something we had not done in Cairo.
He progressed by saying “This team is better equipped (than the one which qualified for the 2018 finals). We should have been able to qualify in the regular time given the chances we missed. “
Away from that, Nigeria’s Super Eagles also let down the hopes of Nigerians as the country failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after succumbing to Ghana on away goals in their return leg, which was held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
Tunisia, however, progressed to their sixth World Cup finals participation when a 0-0 draw at home against Mali guaranteed their spot in Qatar with a 1-0 aggregate victory.
Mali, who has never qualified for World Cup, was far more ambitious, creative, and energetic, but they were handicapped to advance past a typically tight Tunisian defense, as the hosts clung on to their 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
The draw for the World Cup group stages will be held on Friday, April 1.
The tournament will consequently commence on Monday, November 21 at the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, with hosts Qatar competing in the first match.
The group stage will continue through Friday, December 2, with the first round of the knockout phase commencing the very next day, on Saturday, December 3, which will last till December 6th.
The quarter-finals will be played on December 9th and 10th, while the semi-finals will be held on the 13th and 14th of December.
To cap it all off, on Sunday, December 18, the final will be played at the 80,000-seater Lusail Iconic Stadium.
