World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

asCameroonandthe IvoryCoastgo
head-to-headinwhatisa toughdraw
forbothcountries.
Camerooncanillafford to missout
justmonthsbefore they host theCup
ofNationsfinals,buttheyhavenot
beenconvincingover thelastyear.
TheIvorianswill be
abletoforge an
earlyadvantage
whentheyhost

CamerooninAbidjaninthesecond

gameofthe group.

Ghanawill have thepsychological

edgeover South AfricainGroupG,after

edgingtheminrecent CupofNations

qualifiers,butthere is alsothe up-and-

comingZimbabweto contendwith. If

theylookaftertheir

playersdespite

theirlimited

resources,they

couldproveareal

surprisepackage

giventhequality

oftheirsquad.

GroupJ is wideopenasBenin,

DRCongo,Madagascarand Tanzania

compete.They allhaveincommonthe

factthatnonewereabletoqualifyfor

January’s CupofNationsfinals.

EmployingtheveterancoachHector

Cuper is a statementofintentfromthe

Congolese andtheywillbe marginal

favouritesbecausetheyalsohavethe

bestsquad,eveniftheyare oftenlet

downbyadministrative inefficiencyand

bunglingofficialdom.Beninaresticking

withveteranFrenchcoach Michel

Dussuyerdespite theirfailure to get

thepointtheyneededina belated

JunequalifiertoreachtheNationsCup

finalsandwillalsofancytheirchances.

Thereveryfewoutsidersworthyof

consideration,howevertheCapeVerde

Islandsalwayspushway abovetheir

weightandZambiaare alsocapablebut

insomethingofa slump.They fired

SerbiancoachMilutinSredojevichin July

after a poor COSAFACupcampaign,and

Under-20coachBestonChambeshiis

caretakerforthestartof thequalifiers

wheretheyareawayinMauritaniaand

thenhostingTunisia.Theirtwokey

players,PatsonDakaandEnockMwepu,

havejustmoved to thePremier League.

Africa openedWorldCupqualification

waybackinSeptember 2019 witha first

roundofknockoutmatchesinvolving

thebottom 28 countriesintheFIFA

rankings. Theextraordinary two-year

gapbetweenthe first andsecondstage

isindicativeof theturmoilcausedby

theCOVID-19pandemic.

GROUPA

Algeria

BurkinaFaso

Djibouti

Niger

GROUP B

EquatorialGuinea

Mauritania

Tunisia

Zambia

GROUP C

CapeVerde

CentralAfricanRepublic

Liberia

Nigeria

GROUP D

Cameroon

Ivory Coast

Malawi

Mozambique

GROUP E

Kenya

Mali

Rwanda

Uganda

GROUP F

Angola

Egypt

Gabon

Libya

GROUP G

Ethiopia

Ghana

South Africa

Zimbabwe

GROUP H

Congo

Namibia

Senegal

Togo

GROUP I

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Morocco

Sudan

GROUP J

Benin

DRCongo

Madagascar

Tanzania

THEDRAW

WORLDSERVICE

ThelastdefeatsufferedbyAlgeria

wasanawaygameina Cupof

NationsqualifieragainstBeninin

October 2018

ABOVE:Under

pressure... 2022

AFCON hosts

Cameroon

ABOVE RIGHT:

DRCongocoach...

Hector Cuper

Pr

ev

ie

w