By Jerry Omondi
North African teams were the biggest beneficiaries of the first legs of the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup African Qualifiers, placing themselves at an advantage in the quest to secure slots in the global tournament.
Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt secured vital victories against strong sub-Saharan African teams ahead of the second legs to be played on Tuesday.
Egypt overcame African champions Senegal, in a thrilling repeat of the 2021 AFCON final clash.
Mohamed Salah saw his shot deflected into the Senegalese net in the opening stages of the game played at the Cairo International Stadium.
Saliou Ciss had attempted to block a shot from the Liverpool star but ended up finding the back of his own net.
Senegal tried throughout the match to level the scores at least, but all proved futile as the North Africans defended well to put one leg into Qatar 2022.
Tunisia beat Mali in their game played at the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako, Mali.
The West Africans also went down courtesy of an own goal by Moussa Sissako, who shortly afterwards got sent off.
In another game, Islam Slimani scored a header to give Algeria victory over Cameroon, who were under the guidance of a new coach following the sacking of Antonio Conceiçao.
Rigobert Song has hoped to guide the Indomitable Lions to victory in Douala, but the Desert Foxes stood firm all game to gain the advantage going into the second leg.
Morocco on the other hand drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, a game watched by President Felix Tshisekedi.
Yoane Wissa had put the Leopards ahead in the 12th minute, but the Atlas Lions roared loud with quarter an hour of the game still to play, as Tarik Tissoudali found the back of the net to leave the game wide open.
The fifth game of the day, the much-hyped West African derby pitting Nigeria against Ghana, ended in a goalless draw to leave everything to play for on Tuesday in Abuja.
Of the 10 teams competing to secure slots in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, only Mali has never appeared at the tournament before.
Cameroon have played in the World Cup a record seven times, one more than Nigeria. Morocco and Tunisia have played in five World Cups each, while Algeria has appeared four times.
Egypt and Ghana both have three World Cup appearances to their names, while Senegal has played in the global tournament twice and the DR Congo once.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
The aggregate winners of the five fixtures in the African qualifiers automatically secure slots in the competition.
