The Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup draw was held at the Doha Convention and Exhibition Centre in the capital on Friday, and for the five African finalists, it was a moment of truth as their first-round opponents were revealed.
In Tuesday’s last round of the home and away play-off matches, Ghana held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in the Nigerian capital Abuja, thus winning the tie via the away-goals rule, which led to rioting by Super Eagles fans.
Senegal beat Egypt 3-1 via a penalty shootout after their playoff ended 1-1 on aggregate.
Morocco qualified by beating the Democratic Republic of Congo 4-1 on aggregate in the second leg in Dakar.
Tunisia snuck in via a freak-away own goal by Mali defender Moussa Sissako. In the second leg, the teams played to a goalless draw in Tunisia.
Cameroon booked their ticket to Qatar following Karl Toko Ekambi’s 124th-minute winner. The Indomitable Lions lost the first leg 1-0 at home to Algeria but bounced back to win 2-1 in Blida, Algeria.
Hosts Qatar will face Ecuador in the tournament’s Group A opening match on November 21. The group also includes Senegal and the Netherlands.
In Group D, Tunisia will play defending champions France and Denmark. Peru will face Australia or the United Arab Emirates in a play-off to decide the fourth member of the group.
In Group F, sixth-time qualifiers Morocco face Canada, Belgium, and Croatia and in Group G, five-time winners Brazil face eighth-time qualifiers Cameroon, Switzerland, and Serbia.
In Group H, Ghana will be hoping it’s the fourth time lucky as they face Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.
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