DAMS. The World Cup play-offs have started in Europe, already ending in the elimination of Italy. The play-offs in Africa this time have been scheduled for Friday March 25 for the first leg matches and Tuesday March 29 for the return matches, with Cameroon – Algeria and Egypt – Senegal in particular.
[Mis à jour le 25 mars 2022 à 18h14] What disappointment for Italy! The 2022 World Cup play-offs, which began on Thursday March 24, have already deprived the Squadra Azzurra of a Euro-World double. The Italians, crowned European champions last year, will miss the World Cup for the second time in a row, after their failure in 2018. Their defeat in the semi-final of the play-offs, Thursday March 24 against North Macedonia (0-1), sounds like a real fiasco in a whole country, again bruised.
The reigning European champions will not play in the long-awaited World Cup play-off final against the Portuguese, who at the same time won in Porto against Turkey (3-1) thanks to goals from Otavio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes. Lille’s Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz had reduced the mark before missing his penalty for the equaliser. In the other play-off matches in the Europe zone, Gareth Bale led his Welsh compatriots to victory against Austria (2-1) with a double. Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden qualified for the play-off final after winning extra time against the Czech Republic.
Dams in Europe and Africa
The finals of the 2022 World Cup play-offs for the European zone will take place this Tuesday, March 29 between Portugal and North Macedonia on one side and between Poland and Sweden on the other. Wales will have to wait for the postponement of the match between Scotland and Ukraine to know their opponent. Three European countries will thus be added to the 17 nations already qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
But the play-offs of this 2022 World Cup do not only concern Europe. This Friday, March 25, the 3rd qualifying round for the Africa zone also started. After the first leg on Friday, we will have to wait for the return matches on Tuesday to know the 5 African teams qualified for this World Cup. Among the five posters of the “dams”: a remake of the last final of the African Cup of Nations between Egypt and Senegal or even a Cameroon – Algeria full of promise.
Play-offs and preparation matches for the World Cup live
It goes for Portugal, North Macedonia, Sweden, Poland and Wales after these first play-off matches. These teams are one step away from qualifying. Due to the international situation, the Scotland v Ukraine match is on hold. Here are the latest results:
Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Cameroon… Many of them dream of a final phase of the World Cup. Here are the latest results of the 3rd qualifying round for the African zone:
The World Cup play-offs for the Europe zone follow a group playoff phase. Ten teams, which finished first in their respective pools, have already qualified (see the initial classification of the groups). The ten best runners-up from each group as well as the two best group winners from the last Nations League were drafted for the play-offs. Only three more European qualifiers will remain at the end of this series of matches.
Unlike Europe, the Africa zone cannot send teams directly to the World Cup. After two rounds of eliminations by groups (see the classifications at the end of the 2nd phase), the best nations must pass a 3rd round in the form of two-way elimination matches. This explains why we also speak of “dams” on this continent. Five qualifiers will come out of this play-off phase. Here is the complete draw for these play-offs in the Africa zone for the 2022 World Cup scheduled for Friday March 25 and Tuesday March 29:
- First leg matches:
- March 25, 2022, 4 p.m.: DR Congo – Morocco, Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa.
- March 25, 2022, 6 p.m.: Mali – Tunisia, 26-Mars Stadium, Bamako.
- March 25, 2022, 6 p.m.: Cameroon – Algeria, Japoma Stadium, Douala.
- March 25, 2022, 8:30 p.m.: Egypt – Senegal, Cairo International Stadium, Cairo.
- March 25, 2022, 8:30 p.m.: Ghana – Nigeria, Cape Coast Stadium, Cape Coast.
- Return matches:
- March 29, 2022, 7 p.m.: Senegal – Egypt, Diamniadio Olympic Stadium, Dakar.
- March 29, 2022, 7:00 p.m.: Nigeria – Ghana, MKO National Stadium, Abuja.
- March 29, 2022, 9:30 p.m.: Algeria – Cameroon, Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida.
- March 29, 2022, 9:30 p.m.: Tunisia – Mali, Hammadi Agrebi Olympic Stadium, Tunis.
- March 29, 2022, 9:30 p.m.: Morocco – DR Congo, Complexe Mohammed V, Casablanca.