The age-long football rivalry that existed between West African neighbours Nigeria and Ghana is set to be rekindled following the conclusion of the draw for the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
In the draws conducted Saturday in Yaounde, the Super Eagles of Nigeria were drawn against the Black Stars of Ghana in one of the five pairings.
The Black Stars will be hosting the Eagles in the first leg of the 2022 World Cup play-offs in March.
While Nigeria was in Pot 1 have been ranked among the top five teams on the continent, Ghana was placed in Pot 2 of the draw due to their FIFA ranking as of November 2021.
The top five teams on the FIFA ranking were placed in Pot 1 with other teams placed in Pot 2.
Ghana will host Nigeria at home in the first leg before playing away to Super Eagles in the second leg.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino in his message before the Live draw revealed more African teams will get to represent in the competition after the 2026 tournament to be staged in Mexico, the USA, and Canada.
“More African teams and talent will get to participate in the tournament with the number of teams increasing from five teams to nine teams after the 2026 World Cup,” Infantino said in his message before the draw.
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“African football will indeed be among the best in the world,” CAF President Patrice Motsepe said.
The playoff matches have been scheduled for March but the actual dates for the first and second legs have not been announced.
The 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, and 32 teams will compete in eight groups. The full schedule will be confirmed after the finals draw in April 2022. Th
Since making a debut appearance at the USA 1994 World Cup, the Super Eagles have qualified for all but one of the subsequent editions of the Mundial.
If the three-time African champions make it to Qatar, it will be a seventh appearance for the Eagles’ whose best record at the Mundial remains making it to the second round of the 32 team competition.
World Cup play-offs fixtures
Egypt (45) v Senegal (20)
Cameroon (50) v Algeria (29)
Ghana (52) v Nigeria (36)
DR Congo (64) v Morocco (28)
Mali (53) v Tunisia (30)
***In bracket is the FIFA ranking for the countries
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