2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying (CAF)

Bit of a set-back for Togo, but they should be able to win at home.

 

...and should Togo get through, they drop in group I with Cameroon, Libya & D.R. Congo (virtually at this point).

The 2 Congos alongside Namibia & Kenya are virtually through.

 

Ethiopia ends up smashing Somalia 5-0!

 

Is it just me or will the 3rd qualifying stage from CAF be a sort of CAF world cup of its own?! Damn. I swear that stage will be more spicy than the upcoming ACN competition!

 

Ghana - Lesotho 4-0. Match suspended due to power outage.. Perhaps they should stick to playing during daytime.

 

Egypt up 2-0 over Mozambique at the moment.

 

Ghana defeated Lesotho 7-0, after the power was restored. Egypt-Mozambique 2-0; one own goal by the goalkeeper reported.

 

Shot hit the post, rebounded off the keeper's back, and went into the goal.

Good to see they finally finished the game in Ghana. With all the time missed I thought they'd just start it again tomorrow or something.

 

Any news on today's qualifiers?

 

Final Scores:
Central Africa Rep 2-0 Botswana
Kenya 0-0 Malawi
Cameroon 1-0 Congo DR

In progress:
Sierre Leonne 2-0 Cape Verde
Tunisia 0-1 Equatorial Guinea (1st)
Ivory Coast 1-0 Tanzania (HT)
Gambia 1-0 Morocco (2nd)
Sudan 0-0 Zambia

...looks like our African Nations Cup co-host's success has carried on over their north African rivals, although none of those scores are FT...

 

Today's results so far:

Central African Republic 2 - 0 Botswana

Tunisia 3 - 1 Equatorial Guinea
Sierra Leone 2 - 1 Cape Verde Islands

Gambia 1 - 1 Morocco
Ivory Coast 2 - 0 Tanzania

Sudan 2 - 0 Zambia

Kenya 0 - 0 Malawi

Cameroon 1 - 0 DR Congo

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Central African Rep. got their first WC qualifying win in history (according to FIFA). African champions Zambia lost 0-2 at Sudan, which helps group rivals Ghana. Gambia holds up Morocco and Ivory Coast takes advantage in group.

 

Oh snap! Zambia already on the back heel!! Damn they are already 3 pts back with 9 goals to catch up to Ghana.... In many ways, they now are obligated to beat Ghana home & away... doubt that is gonna happen. Seems to me Ghana might just have consolidated 1st spot after just 1 game lol... Unless Sudan can create an upset in Accra.

 

yeah, you could say that the two best Pot 2 teams were Zambia and Morocco and they got the toughest draws in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Now they are both in trouble already after just 1 game. Its been said once, but I'll say it again, Africa is the least forgiving qualifying confederation for WC. 1 bad loss can doom you.

 

hey I hope u guys don't mind but can I just have my little rant here... but seriously what are FIFA doing to Africa's qualifying tournament??!! just checked wikipedia and just realized that not only do only the group winners go through, but... once they are through to the finals stage, there's not another round robin, but 5 two team playoffs to decide the 5 qualifiers. And it doesn't state any seeding system, so if it's an open draw, we could get Ghana vs. Ivory Coast in one game, and then Burkina Faso vs. Central African Republic in the other... not only that but after next week's game, there are no other games until .... March 22, 2013! WTF?! I mean 9 months until the next match. I really wish FIFA could do with Africa what they do with Asia... have a semifinal round robin stage of 20 teams, 5 groups of 4 with the top two making the final round of 10... then 2 groups of 5... top two in each group go through, playoff for 3rd placed team... this qualifying format really stinks! oop:

 

Africa is forced to do this, this time around because due to FIFA and other pressures they are changing the African Cup of Nations to odd years instead of even, so it doesn't interfere with WC anymore. I think after this year they will go to something better but Africa has always preferred to go with a final stage with nearly all teams still in it. The reason is that outside of the what? top 10 teams in Asia, none of any dream of qualifying while in Africa 25 teams probably realistically believe they can qualify so Africa likes to keep as many teams in the final stage as possible.

 

thanks for the clarification.. but I don't know about that with the Asian teams, North Korea made the world cup last year, and Bahrain have been just a shot away from the last two, yet niether of these sides made the top 10 this year..

 

I am hopefully going to do reviews after each round of games, so that we can do some analysis:

Group A: Central African Republic (3pts), South Africa (1pt), Ethopia (1pt), Botswana (0pt)
Analysis: South Africa are supposed to be heavy favorites in this group but they looked quite unfancied in there opener, a home draw to lack-luster Ethiopa. The pot 2 team in this group, Botswana lost convicingly to CAR. This is a group to watch as it could turn into a dogfight in a hurry between all 4 teams if South Africa can't get it together. Remember, South Africa had a horrible qualifying campaign during the last Africa Cup of Nations as well, so who knows what form they are in.

Group B: Tunisia (3pts), Sierra Leone (3pts), Cape Verde (0pt), Equitorial Guinea (0pt)
Analysis: Tunisia are the big favorites here and took care of business against EQG after falling down 1-0 early. Sierra Leone won at home vs Cape Verde, the pot 2 team but neither team is considered a threat to Tunisia. If Tunisia can take care of business on the road against Cape Verde next week, then this group could be over fast.

Group C: Cote d'Ivoire (3pts), Morocco (1pt), Gambia (1pt), Tanzania (0pt)
Analysis: CdI are probably the most consistant team in Africa Football right now and controlled Tanzania from the start. They were gifted a result as Morocco was unable to beat Gambia. Morocco was one of the strongest pot 2 teams and were really unlucky to draw CdI. The next game is massive for this group. Morocco hosts Cote d'Ivoire and losing that game would probably all but eleminate them given CdI historic form against weaker countries.

Group D: Ghana (3pts), Sudan (3pts), Zambia (0pt), Lesotho (0pt)
Analysis: Ghana proving they are one of the best of Africa after putting 7 up on Lesotho. Sudan, a team much better at home than on the road beat ANC Champion Zambia 2-0. Zambia are going up against a brick wall next match. They are home to Ghana and dropping points could spell an early end to the unforgiving African qualifiers.

Group E: Burkina Faso (1pt), Gabon (1pt), Congo (1pt), Niger (1pt)
Analysis: Not only did everyone draw in this group, no one even scored a goal. This is another group that could really turn into a dogfight. Congo probably has to feel the happiest as they picked up a great away draw at group favorite Burkina Faso.

Group F: Nigeria (3pts), Kenya (1pt), Malawi (1pt), Namibia (0pt)
Analysis: It took Nigeria 80 minutes, but they were finally able to break down the Namibia defense. Kenya and Malawi played out a goalless draw. Nigeria are big favorites here and WC regulars. Results in there favorite could have them coasting this this group.

Group G: Egypt (3pts), Guinea (3pts), Zimbabwe (0pt), Mozambique (0pt)
Analysis: Egypt and Guinea are destined to go head to head in this group. The two teams are favorites to be at the top. Egypt have long been an African powerhouse but long underacheived in World Cup qualifiers. They took care of business in their first game but now travel to Guinea in a week in a crucial early qualifier. This is definitely a group to watch and one that could come down to the last game between Guinea and Egypt.

Group: H: Algeria (3pts), Benin (3pts), Mali (0pt), Rwanda (0pt)
Analysis: Algeria are heavy favorites in this group and looked fantastic against Rwanda. Benin picked up a great home win vs Mali but this group is likely to be one of the more boring to watch unless Algeria really screws up. Judging by their current form however (they haven't lost in nearly a year), this is very unlikely.

Group I: Cameroon (3pts), Libya (1pt), Togo (1pt), Congo DR (0pt)
Analysis: Cameroon are favorites in what is likely to be a very tough group. Both Togo and Libya are good teams and will be eager to take a shot at Cameroon if the opportunity rises. This is one of those groups that will likely take quite a few games for us to get a clear picture of who is going to contend unless Cameroon really take care of business early.

Group: J: Senegal (3pts), Angola (1pt), Uganda (1pt), Liberia (0pt)
Analysis: Senegal did their job and beat Liberia convincingly after giving up an early goal. The draw between Angola and Uganda will only help their cause. Both of those teams on a good day will be able to hang with Senegal, but neither has shown the form recently to prove it.

 

I might be wrong, but the blame should go to CAF. Doesn't each confederation decide how they will play their qualifiers? I think FIFA just says: "u give me x teams" & the confeds sit down & decide how best to come up with those x teams.

...and unless I am mistaken again, this is the same format that was used for Italia 1990 by CAF. CAF has flirted with all types of formats lol

 

CAF did use that format in qualifying for World Cup 1990, albeit with only two teams qualifying that time.

 

Although they haven't clarified the procedure yet, I do imagine that the draw for the final round will be seeded, with the higher FIFA-ranked sides put into one pot and the lower-ranked sides into the other, similar to how UEFA did the Euro 2012 qualification playoffs. Barring a incredible decrease in form for either side, an Ivory Coast-Ghana series would be impossible in this scenario. CAF would be quite stupid to have their two premier sides fight to the death.

uuaww: I agree with your analysis. The next set of games could be decisive, surprisingly. As you said, if Zambia fall to Ghana, it's safe to say that that group is locked up. Same goes for Ivory Coast/Morocco. In addition to those games, I'm curious about the Group A games, Gabon v Burkina Faso, and Egypt v Guinea. Should be a good week.

 

I agree with the rest, but these two I would like to add:
Group H: Not sure if Algeria are heavy favourites. Benin picked up a big win, but this is still very much a three horse race between Algeria, Benin and Mali. Mali won 3rd place at the African Cup of Nations and Rwanda will be dead last in this group, so I think there is still all to play for.

Group I: Congo DR may have lost, but they played some excellent football and they are the perenial underachievers of Africa. So actually this group has three good teams, not two.

 

Guinea isn't on the same level as Egypt, they are just the capable team of feasting on Egypt's constant underacheiving in WCQ. I see what you're saying in Group H, but I am going to withhold further judgement until after next week. Don't agree with Group I. Congo DR will be a bottomfeeder IMO until they prove otherwise. Tons of teams play well without getting results, I want to see Congo DR get some results before I start lumping them in with teams that have aspirations of qualification.