World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

Algeria willgointoAfrica’stwicedelayed

kick-off of thegroupphaseofWorld

Cupqualifiersasarguablythebest

preparedteamtoeverenterthe

Africanpreliminaries.

Qualifyingwassupposedtobeginin

June,butwas postponedwhenseveral

countrieshadtheirstadiumsdeemed

unfitforusefor internationalmatches.

Insteadoftakinga holiday, theAlgerians

usedtheinternationalwindowtoseta

newrecordforanunbeatenrunby an

Africanside.

Friendlywinsover Mauritania(4- 1 in

Blida), Mali(1-0inBlida)and2-0away

against Tunisiatooktheirstreakto 27 ,

goingpast theoldrecordheldby the

Ivory Coast.EvenRiyadMahrezheld

offonhispost-seasonholidaysafter

Manchester City’sruntotheChampions

Leaguefinal,scoringintwoof thethree

gamesashehelpedhiscountry

fine-tunetheirpreparations.

Theynowgointoqualifyingasthe

formsideandcouldwellsweepthrough

GroupAwhereBurkinaFasolookthe

onlysidecapableofofferingany

potentialresistance.

Algeriaareina purplepatch,fuelled

bytheirAfricaCupof Nationssuccessin

Egypt in 2019 ,whichendedalmost 30

years withoutany continentalsuccess

andhasre-awokena sleepinggiant.

Thelastdefeatsufferedby Algeriawas

anawaygameina CupofNations

qualifieragainstBenininOctober 2018 ,

andtheystarttheirWorldCupqualifying

bidathomeagainstminnowsDjiboutiin

a perfectdressrehearsal fortheirtripto

Ouagadougoustraightafter,for what

islikelytobetheonly troublingclash

theywillhaveintheirgroup.

CoachDjamel Belmadilooksa

no-nonsenseoperator, hispoolof

playersisexpandingallthetime,

particularlyamongtheexpatriate

AlgeriansinFrance,andthereis a

self-beliefthathadpreviouslybeen

missing,aswellasa recordtonow

protectwhentheystart thequalifiers.

Therearetenqualifyinggroupsinthe

Africanprelims,withonly thewinners

advancingtohome-and-awayplay-offs

nextMarch,whichwill determinethe

continent’sfivesidesforQatar 2 022.

Thatonlycomesafterthecompletion

ofthegroupphaseinNovember, so

therearenopatterns todiscernor

potential match-upstopredict.

Butit is easytoseethelikesofMali,

Egypt,Morocco,Nigeria,Senegaland

Tunisiagoingthroughfromthegroup

stage, as theylookoverwhelming

favouritesintheirrespectivegroups.

GroupDis settosupplyfireworks

Favourites set to prosper

FewsurprisesonthecardsinthegroupstageofAfrica’sWorldCupqualifying

CAFWorldCup Qualifiers

MARKGLEESON

Unbeaten...Algeriagointothesecondroundof

Africa’sWorldCupqualifiersfullofconfidence

Rematch...GroupG

arch-rivalsGhana

andSouthAfrica

havealreadyplayed

eachotherthisyear