Senegal (0) – Egypt (1)
Senegal remain winless (D1 L2) and goalless in their three previous African World Cup qualifying matches against Egypt.
Egypt’s 1-0 win in the first leg was their first in their last four meetings with Senegal in all competitions (D1 L2). The last three contests between the two nations have seen just two goals scored (one apiece).
Senegal are aiming to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for only a third time, after doing so in 2002 (reached quarter-finals) and 2018 (group stage).
Egypt are looking to qualify for consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup for the very first time, having participated in the finals on three previous occasions (1934, 1990, 2018)..
Senegal’s 1-0 defeat to Egypt in the first leg was their first World Cup qualifying loss since October 2013 against Côte d’Ivoire, ending their 15-match unbeaten run in qualifying for the tournament (W10 D5). The Lions of Teranga last lost back-to-back World Cup qualifiers in June 1996, while they last did so within qualifying for a single edition in July 1993..
Egypt are unbeaten in their last 10 World Cup qualifying matches (W7 D3) since a 0-1 defeat to Uganda in August 2017..
In all competitions, Egypt haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their last 15 matches since a 2-2 draw with Angola in World Cup qualifying in November 2021. The Pharaohs have shipped just six goals in these 15 games, keeping nine clean sheets, including six shutouts in their last seven matches..
Senegal suffered their first defeat in 19 fixtures across all competitions in the first leg (W12 D6), since losing 2-1 to Namibia in July 2021..
Each of Senegal’s last six goals in all competitions have been scored by a different player (Famara Diédhiou, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Ismaïla Sarr, Abdou Diallo, Bamba Dieng, Sadio Mané), although they have failed to score in normal time in both of their last two matches – each against Egypt (a 0-0 draw in the AFCON final and a 0-1 defeat in first leg of World Cup qualifying)..
Mo Salah has been directly involved in three of Egypt’s five goals in 2022 in all competitions (two goals, one assist), with his shot also resulting in Saliou Ciss’ own goal in the first leg against Senegal.
Senegal (0) – Egypt (1)
Senegal remain winless (D1 L2) and goalless in their three previous African World Cup qualifying matches against Egypt.
Egypt’s 1-0 win in the first leg was their first in their last four meetings with Senegal in all competitions (D1 L2). The last three contests between the two nations have seen just two goals scored (one apiece).
Senegal are aiming to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for only a third time, after doing so in 2002 (reached quarter-finals) and 2018 (group stage).
Egypt are looking to qualify for consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup for the very first time, having participated in the finals on three previous occasions (1934, 1990, 2018)..
Senegal’s 1-0 defeat to Egypt in the first leg was their first World Cup qualifying loss since October 2013 against Côte d’Ivoire, ending their 15-match unbeaten run in qualifying for the tournament (W10 D5). The Lions of Teranga last lost back-to-back World Cup qualifiers in June 1996, while they last did so within qualifying for a single edition in July 1993..
Egypt are unbeaten in their last 10 World Cup qualifying matches (W7 D3) since a 0-1 defeat to Uganda in August 2017..
In all competitions, Egypt haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their last 15 matches since a 2-2 draw with Angola in World Cup qualifying in November 2021. The Pharaohs have shipped just six goals in these 15 games, keeping nine clean sheets, including six shutouts in their last seven matches..
Senegal suffered their first defeat in 19 fixtures across all competitions in the first leg (W12 D6), since losing 2-1 to Namibia in July 2021..
Each of Senegal’s last six goals in all competitions have been scored by a different player (Famara Diédhiou, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Ismaïla Sarr, Abdou Diallo, Bamba Dieng, Sadio Mané), although they have failed to score in normal time in both of their last two matches – each against Egypt (a 0-0 draw in the AFCON final and a 0-1 defeat in first leg of World Cup qualifying)..
Mo Salah has been directly involved in three of Egypt’s five goals in 2022 in all competitions (two goals, one assist), with his shot also resulting in Saliou Ciss’ own goal in the first leg against Senegal..
Nigeria (0) – Ghana (0)
Nigeria will be looking to qualify for a fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup, having participated in 2010 (South Africa), 2014 (Brazil) and in 2018 (Russia)..
Having qualified for three consecutive FIFA World Cups between 2006 and 2014, Ghana will be looking to reach the finals for a fourth time having missed out on the 2018 tournament in Russia..
Four of the seven African World Cup qualifiers between Nigeria and Ghana have ended level (2 wins for Nigeria and 1 win for Ghana), with three of the last four ending goalless. .
Ghana have failed to score in each of their last four World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria, while Nigeria have failed to score in four of their last five against Ghana..
Nigeria remain winless in their last six meetings with Ghana across all competitions (D3 L3) since a 1-0 victory in the Africa Cup of Nations back in 2006 – although each of the last three meetings have ended goalless..
Ghana are winless in their last five games across all competitions (D2 L3) since a 1-0 victory against South Africa in this World Cup qualifying campaign. .
Nigeria have lost just one of their last 43 World Cup qualifiers (W28 D14), with that defeat coming against Central African Republic in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup..
Ghana have lost just one of their last 11 World Cup qualifiers (W5 D5), conceding just six goals in total during this period and never more than one in a game..
Despite failing to find the back of the net in the first leg, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has scored 10 goals in his last 14 appearances for Nigeria in all competitions..
In the first leg, no player made more passes (57), won back possession more often (9), or made more tackles (3) than Ghana’s Iddrisu Baba..
Algeria (1) – Cameroon (0)
Algeria’s 1-0 win in the first leg was their first ever victory against Cameroon in a competitive match, having failed to win any of their previous seven such games (D3 L4)..
Algeria are looking to reach the FIFA World Cup for the fifth time, last doing so in 2014 where they made it through the group stage for the first time and were eliminated in the round of 16 by eventual winners; Germany (2-1).Cameroon’s defeat to Algeria in the first leg was the first time they’ve lost a World Cup qualifier at home since 1976 (2-1 against Congo)..
Should they overturn the 1-0 deficit from the first leg, Cameroon would reach the FIFA World Cup for the eighth time, and their first since 2014 (group stage). The Indomitable Lions already hold the record for most participations by an African side (7).
.Algeria are unbeaten in their last eight World Cup qualifiers (W5 D3), they were last on a longer such run without defeat since a run 13 games between October 1981 and October 1989 (W10 D3).Another defeat to Algeria would see Cameroon lose consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the first time since April 1981 (1-0 against Zimbabwe and Zaire)..
Cameroon have failed to score in two of their last three matches in all competitions (1-0 against Algeria and 0-0 against Egypt in the AFCON semi-final – losing 3-1 on penalties), having only failed to score once in their previous 13 games (W10 D2 L1)..
Algeria have scored 26 goals across their seven World Cup 2022 qualifiers (W5 D2), averaging 3.7 goals per game.Cameroon had twice as many attempts (10-5) and double the number of shots on target (4-2) than Algeria in the first leg, although they managed just 0.35 expected goals based on the quality of their chances in the match – half the xG tally of Algeria (0.7)..
Islam Slimani has scored eight goals in his seven appearances in World Cup 2022 qualifiers, although he hasn’t netted in consecutive matches for Algeria since October 2019 (against D.R. Congo and Benin in friendlies)..
Morocco (1) – Congo DR (1)
Congo DR remain unbeaten in African World Cup qualifying meetings with Morocco (P5 W2 D3 L0), with the 1-1 draw in the first leg the third consecutive draw between the two nations in such qualifying (including Congo DR’s record as Zaire)..
Morocco are winless in their last three meetings with Congo DR in all competitions (D2 L1) since a 3-0 friendly win in January 2006..
Morocco are aiming to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for a sixth time, and a second in a row, having also participated in 2018. Only in 1994/1998 have they ever previously taken part in consecutive FIFA World Cup editions. Congo DR are looking to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for only a second time, with the last time coming in 1974 as Zaire..
Morocco are unbeaten in their last 13 World Cup qualifying matches (W9 D4), keeping 11 clean sheets and conceding just two goals in this run.Congo DR have lost just one of their last 10 World Cup qualifying fixtures (W5 D4), a 0-1 defeat to Madagascar in October 2021..
In all competitions, Morocco have only lost one of their last 33 internationals (W25 D7), a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations..
Congo DR have only lost one of their last eight competitive internationals (W4 D3), a 0-1 defeat away at Madagascar in this season’s World Cup qualifying..
In the first leg, Ryan Mmaee was directly involved in half of Morocco’s 10 shots (four shots, one chance created), the most shot involvements of any player in the match..
Yoane Wissa made only his third senior international appearance for Congo DR in the first leg, and first since October 2020. He scored his second goal for the nation, both of which have come against Morocco, and has now scored in back-to-back appearances for club and country. He has seven goals for Brentford in all competitions in 2021-22; excluding penalties, no player has scored more for the Bees this term..
Tunisia (1) – Mali (0)
Tunisia’s 1-0 win over Mali in the first leg was the first ever African World Cup qualifying match between the two nations, while each of the last three meetings in all competitions have been decided by a single goal (two Tunisia wins, one Mali win)..
Mali have won only one of their last four games against Tunisia in all competitions (D1 L2), that being a 1-0 victory in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year..
Tunisia have lost only one of their last 15 World Cup qualifying games since a 1-4 defeat to Cameroon in November 2013 (W11 D3 L1)..
Mali’s 0-1 defeat to Tunisia in the first leg was their first loss in a World Cup qualifier since a 0-6 defeat to Morocco in September 2017. They haven’t lost consecutive such games since November 2015..
Tunisia’s 1-0 win over Mali in the first leg was their sixth clean sheet in their last eight World Cup qualifiers (W5 D2 L1), while they’ve conceded no more than one goal in a game during that time (2 in total)..
Mali’s 1-0 defeat to Tunisia last time out ended the Eagles’ nine-game unbeaten run in World Cup qualifiers (W5 D4), while it’s the first goal they have conceded during these such games since a 0-6 defeat to Morocco in September 2017. .
Tunisia reached the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their first such finals since the 2006 edition held in Germany. Indeed, that same tournament was the last time the Eagles of Carthage qualified for consecutive World Cup finals (run of three between 1998 and 2006). Mali, meanwhile, are yet to reach a World Cup finals..
No player created more chances across the first leg games of the African third round World Cup qualifiers than Tunisia’s Naim Sliti (3), who created as many as the rest of his teammates combined (3)..
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In each of Tunisia’s last four games in all competitions, a player has been sent off, once for Tunisia – Farouk Ben Mustapha against Gambia in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – and three times for their opposition – Nigeria (Alex Iwobi), Burkina Faso (Dango Ouattara) and Mali (Moussa Sissako) – with the latter also scoring an own goal in the first leg.Mali have had four players sent off in their last three games against Tunisia in all competitions – El Bilal Toure and Kiki Kouyaté in June 2021, El Bilal Toure in January 2022 and Moussa Sissako in the first leg..
Eight of Mali’s last 13 goals in all competitions have been scored by Ibrahima Koné, including three of the last four, all of which came from the penalty spot during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, one of which was a winning penalty over Tunisia in a 1-0 group stage win..