As AFCON 2023 qualifiers draw confirmed
Nigerias Super Eagles will have to get the better of the Black Stars of Ghana if they hope to qualify for a fourth straight FIFA World Cup after both sides were paired up in the play-off draw for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
This was confirmed yesterday, after the draw was conducted in Douala, Cameroon.
The games will take place between March 24 and 29, with the first leg taking place in Ghana while the return leg will come up in Nigeria.
They will now be hoping to be one of the five sides who can progress to the 2022 Qatar World Cup taking place at the end of the year in the Middle-East nation.
The 3-time African champions will also be looking to equal an African record four consecutive World Cup appearances in what would be their seventh appearance at footballs biggest stage.
The Super Eagles, who have been to every FIFA World Cup, except one, since making their debut appearance at the 1994 tournament in the United States, qualified for the third round play-offs by virtue of their top-place finish in a second-round group that had Cape Verde, Liberia, and the Central African Republic.
Ghana, meanwhile, advanced to the third-round play-offs after finishing ahead of South Africa, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe in Group-G.
The Black Stars, after missing out on the last World Cup in Russia, will be hoping to make their fourth appearance at footballs biggest tournament in Qatar. This is irrespective of the fact that their outing at the AFCON in Cameroon has been disastrous.
The Super Eagles are looking like a completely different prospect at the AFCON following the departure of Gernot Rohr.
Under former Nigeria international, Augustine Eguavoen, the Super Eagles have romped through the group stage with a 100 percent record and are looking like genuine AFCON contenders.
FIXTURES:
Egypt vs Senegal
Cameroon vs Algeria
Ghana vs Nigeria
DR Congo vs Morocco
Mali vs Tunisia
Meanwhile, the preliminary round draw for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, (AFCON) qualifiers was conducted in Douala, on Friday.
The Gambia came into the ongoing edition of the tournament in Cameroon ranked among the lowest 12 teams in the continent, hence the need to pre-qualify for the next.
There will be six two-leg ties in March and the winners will join 42 other countries in a draw, which will produce 12 groups, with the winners and runners-up qualifying for the next tournament in Ivory Coast.
Somalia returns to the Cup of Nations after a 34-year absence and will face Eswatini, who have never reached the finals.
Eritrea is another country returning to the qualifying competition after missing several editions they face Botswana in a first appearance since 2008. The qualifying Matches are to be played in March
FULL DRAW:
Eritrea v Botswana
Sao Tome e Principe v Mauritius
Djibouti v South Sudan
Seychelles v Lesotho
Somalia v Eswatini
Chad v Gambia
