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Fact File on the 10 African teams in World Cup playoff

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The current  top nine ranked African teams all made it to the World Cup playoff scheduled for March next year. The only team among the qualifiers not ranked among top 10 is DR Congo.

The qualified teams are: Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Egypt, DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia  who all won their respective groups to reach the final qualifying playoff phase for the 2022 World Cup.

Subsequently, the 10 teams will be divided into 2 pots based on their FIFA ranking and a draw will be conducted for the  home and away matches that will produce five final qualifiers.

Sports Village Square presents a fact file on the 10 gladiators. The teams are presented in the current FIFA ranking order.

Senegal

FIFA ranking: 20

Coach: Aliou Cisse

Captain: Kalidou Koulibaly

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Key players: Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr and Idrissa Gana Gueye.

Group H: Played=6, Won=5, Drew=1, Lost=0, Goals For=15, Goals Against=4, Points=16

Previous World Cup participations: 2 (2002 and 2018)

Tunisia

FIFA ranking: 27

Coach: Mondher Kebair

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Captain: Wahbi Khazri

Key players: Wahbi Khazri, Ferjani Sassi and Ali Maaloul.

Group B: Played=6, Won=4, Drew=1, Lost=1, Goals For=11, Goals Against=2, Points=13

Previous World Cup participations: 5 (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018)

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Morocco

FIFA ranking: 29

Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic

Captain: Romain Saiss

Key players: Youssef En-Nesyri, Munir El Haddadi and Achraf Hakimi.

Group I: Played=6, Won=6, Drew=0, Lost=0, Goals For=20, Goals Against=1, Points=18

Previous World Cup participations: 5 (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2018)

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Algeria

FIFA ranking: 30

Coach: Djamel Belmadi

Captain: Riyad Mahrez

Key players: Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Sofiane Feghouli.

Group A: Played=6, Won=4, Drew=2, Lost=0, Goals For=25, Goals Against=4, Points=14

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Previous World Cup participations: 4 (1982, 1986, 2010, 2014)

Nigeria

FIFA ranking: 36

Coach: Gernot Rohr

Captain: Ahmed Musa

Key players: Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi.

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Group C: Played=6, Won=4, Drew=1, Lost=1, Goals For=9, Goals Against=3, Points=13

Previous World Cup participations: 6 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018)

Egypt

Fifa ranking: 44

Coach: Carlos Queiroz

Captain: Mohamed Salah

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Key players: Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny, Ahmed Hegazi, Mohamed El Shennawi

Group F: Played=6, Won=4, Drew=2, Lost=0, Goals For=10, Goals Against=4, Points=14

Previous World Cup participations: 3 (1934, 1990, 2018)

Ghana

FIFA ranking: 52

Coach: Milovan Rajevac

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Captain: Andrew Ayew

Key players: Andrew Ayew, Jordan Ayew, Thomas Partey

Group G: Played=6, Won=4, Drew=1, Lost=1, Goals For=7, Goals Against=3, Points=13

Previous World Cup participations: 3 (2006, 2010, 2014)

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Cameroon

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FIFA ranking: 54

Coach: Toni Conceicao

Captain: Eric Choupo-Moting

Key players: Eric Choupo-Moting, Karl Ekambi and Andre Onana

Group D: Played=6, Won=5, Drew=0, Lost=1, Goals For=12, Goals Against=3, Points=15

Previous World Cup participations: 7 (1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014)

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Mali

FIFA ranking: 57

Coach: Mohamed Magassouba

Captain: Molla Wague

Key players: Kalifa Coulibaly, Moussa Djenepo and Amadou Haidara.

Group E: Played=6, Won=5, Drew=1, Lost=0, Goals For=11, Goals Against=0, Points=16

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Previous World Cup participations: None

DR Congo

FIFA ranking: 67

Coach: Hector Cuper

Captain: Dieumerci Mbokani

Key players: Dieumerci Mbokani, Ben Malango, Yannick Bolasie

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Group J: Played=6, Won=3, Drew=2, Lost=1, Goals For=9, Goals Against=3, Points=11

Previous World Cup participations: 1 (1974)

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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