With the 2018 World Cup just around the corner, several federations are finalizing who will be on the plane to the tournament next year and who will be watching it from home.
So far, Africa will be represented by Nigeria and Egypt. That means that there are still three spots up for grabs, but by next week, any of the following teams: Tunisia, DR Congo, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Cape Verde could have punched their ticket for the most-anticipaed quadrennial tournament in the world.
Of course, not every team has a realistic chance in getting there. Let's have a quick look at where everyone stands ahead of the upcoming games.
GROUP A
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As things stand, things are looking good for Tunisia to seal their spot at WC 2018. They take on an already eliminated Libya while DR Congo face Guinea. All they need to do is avoid defeat, and they are through. Should they lose and DR Congo win, they could still qualify. That is, unless DR Congo absolutely crush Guinea to dramatically improve their goal difference, or Tunisia lose to Libya by a huge margin.
GROUP B - Already decided. Nigeria won the group by a six point margin
GROUP C
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This by far will be the most interesting battle of all the groups. Why? Well, it will feature Morocco vs the Ivory Coast. Both teams obviously are in contention for a World Cup spot, and they are set to lock horns on Saturday in a winners-take-all clash.
GROUP D
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Senegal are looking relatively comfortable, but unfortunately have to replay their game against South Africa. The reason? FIFA opted to annul the match and ban Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for life after the Senegalese Football Association complained about a poor decision he made to award South Africa a spot-kick. That could ultimately prove decisive in how this group turns out, with no one eliminated, and no one through just yet. Burkina Faso and Cape Verde have now been given some hope, and even South Africa could jump back into the swing of things if they can even get something from their upcoming re-match with Senegal.
In short, Group D will definitely be one to keep one's eyes on, unless if Senegal can shut things down and win their re-match with ease to go five points clear of the chasing pack!
GROUP E - Already decided. Egypt won the group by a four point margin
So there we have it. By next week, we will know who will join Egypt and Nigeria to next year's tournament. Who will they be?
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