By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Barely three weeks to the first leg of the final round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying matches involving ten countries still in the race for the five tickets to represent Africa, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the official dates and venues of the two legged matches including the tie between Nigeria and Ghana.
Specifically, the first leg of the last round is scheduled for March 25, 2022, while the second leg matches will be held four days later, on March 29, 2022.
Meanwhile, Mali hopes to win their first ticket for the FIFA World Cup. And to achieve this goal, the Malian FA has called for reinforcements on the Eagles’ bench, with the arrival of former internationals such as Frédéric Kanouté, Mohamed Lamine Sissoko, Eric Chelle and Seydou Keita to support current coach Mohamed Magassouba.
For countries like Cameroon, the African nation holding the record for participation in the World Cup with 7 appearances, or Nigeria with their 6 appearances, it will first be a question of extending their records.
Morocco and Tunisia have participated in the world tournament five times and hope to return to the world stage in Qatar 2022 just as there are three participations each for the Black Stars of Ghana and the Pharaohs of Egypt and they will be seeking for their fourth appearance in this time around.
However, African Champions Senegal are still on cloud nine and a third participation in World Cup after 2002 and 2018 will be the icing on the cake.
As for Algeria, they are aiming to revive after an early elimination from the TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 and what could be better than a quest for a place in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
DR Congo ( formerly called Zaire) got a glimpse of FIFA World Cup in 1974 and. 48 years later, The Leopards are ready to return to the global football stage. Below is the match schedule:
First Leg
Date Time Match Venue City
25.03.2022 15h00 DR Congo-Morocco Stade des Martyrs Kinshasa
25.03.2022 17h00 Mali-Tunisia Stade du 26 mars Bamako
25.03.2022 17h00 Cameroon-Algeria Stade de Japoma Douala
25.03.2022 19h30 Egypt-Senegal Cairo International Stadium Cairo
25.03.2022 19h30 Ghana-Nigeria Cape Coast Stadium Cape Coast
Second Leg
Date Time Match Venue City
29.03.2022 17h00 Senegal – Egypt Stade Olympique de Diamniadio Dakar
29.03.2022 17h00 Nigeria – Ghana MKO National Stadium Abuja
29.03.2022 19h30 Algeria – Cameroon Stade Mustapha Tchaker Blida
29.03.2022 19h30 Tunisia – Mali Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi Tunis
29.03.2022 19h30 Morocco – DR Congo, Complexe Mohammed V Casablanca
